


if it means a lot to you

by loupancake



Series: under the same sky entwined with one destiny [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fantasy AU, Fluff and Angst, Harry visits him, Kissing, Louis' cat Abby gave birth to kittens, M/M, Minor Character Deaths, There are game of thrones references here as always cuz I like their system, a few months have passed, action packed again (a little), alcohol mention, also louis might almost drown again but like listen it's 9339494273x better than you'll expect, and I was inspired by the little mermaid for this one a lot!, but it'll all work out perfectly at the end of this, but still H&L are sorta lowkey miserable w/o each other, creature AU, human!Louis, i hate lmao they miss each other so much, it's just an unfortunate situation they're in, louis works at a restaurant called The Mermaid Scale, mermaid au, merman!harry, sex mention, summer 2k17 is here
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-06-04
Packaged: 2018-06-03 10:48:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 82,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6607846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loupancake/pseuds/loupancake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After some months have passed without any communication between the two, Harry returns to the Northern Atlantic and the first thing he does is visit Louis. As amiable and bittersweet as their reunion may be, a certain siren queen of Harry's sees him talking to Louis and is not happy about it. Said siren might also be plotting something terrible that will put the entire merfolk population at risk of danger and being exposed to humans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The third installment out of six is finally here! ~~This first chapter gave me a bit of a hard time, so if it's a little off, I do apologize for that! It's also sort of the reason it's a little shorter than how much I normally write, but the rest should be much better!~~
> 
> I would love, love, love to thank tons of you that've commented and gave kudos in the other two stories because they really keep me very motivated to write. Can't even express how thankful I am!
> 
> Like I said to reassure you guys, this story ends on a very good note!
> 
> I don't know what to say honestly I'm just real thankful you guys like read this absolute... like... mess and take the time to write what you think about it and it's all been super positive so I guess I'm doing something right and yeah I'm gonna sound like a broken record if thank you guys again.
> 
> -  
> [Series Post {tumblr}](http://wlwmermald.tumblr.com/post/156720987927/under-the-same-sky-entwined-with-one-destiny)  
> [Tumblr](http://wlwmermald.tumblr.com/) | [Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/v4leeeee/playlist/4XeU7sCBEfWgGR9dmBzk21)

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**H**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

The end of November brought waters that were simply too cold to endure. Harry poked his head out of the water on the twenty-ninth after a sinking sleep in his bivalve shell bed to see that it was snowing outside in the human world. That was definitely their cue to leave and head off to their palace in the Southern Atlantic. Harry wished he didn’t have to. He wished he could walk up on land and go reside with Louis and Zayn in their flat and not have a care. Maybe he wanted to do that _more_ only because he and Louis were no longer friends, nor anything more than that. Were they _ever_ anything more? Harry didn’t know, but whatever they were wasn’t at all active… and probably would never again.

It was the brink of December and there wasn’t a day that had gone by he didn't regret everything he did and didn’t do that caused Louis to hate him so much. Louis never said so in so many words, of course, but it was so clear in his voice, his eyes, his _actions_ that night that he hated Harry. Harry couldn’t even blame him. If he were in Louis’ shoes, then he would hate himself, too—and he did.

It was the brink of December and Harry still had his father’s Small Council to advise him and take care of just about everything in the kingdom. Simon had suggested a festival to go along with the marriage and to celebrate the still new king. Harry didn’t want it, but the fest was going to happen regardless because everyone else thought it was a splendid idea. Everyone from everywhere in the kingdom could come along, too, into warmer waters.So, Harry just nodded and said, “That’s fine.” and that was that. 

The festival included games, music, incredible food, and contests that granted huge prizes to winners. It was a usual thing to hold in the kingdom as a day of fun. Harry did his very best to participate happily within it, but his mind was always elsewhere. At least everyone else seemed to be having a good time. At the end of the day, that's what mattered: everyone else. Harry had to make sure everyone else was happy, safe, and content with their lives. With that in mind, during the second half of the long festival—it had lasted an entire weekend—Harry had become much more active in joining in on the festivities. He was social and polite to those he spoke to and he focused on the fact that this was how he should be. He should be the good king and put everyone else first. Harry thought it was good to keep his mind there and he grew a bit happier thinking he was doing an okay job at it.

It was the brink of December and Aeron Averosi was such an ideal bride and queen that it was almost sickening. She was polite, beautiful, sociable, had a burst of her own personality, was very kind to Liam and Niall, and certainly didn’t smother Harry. It had finally gotten to the point he was able to automatically put on any sort of smile he could muster whenever she swam over to him, like it was some second nature thing to do. Taking her hand in his—despite how very wrong it felt inside of his heart—calling her terms of endearment, always being around her… it was just… it was just an automatic thing for him to do. He felt completely empty otherwise. No one ever knew, of course.

It was the brink of December and things were hectic with wedding plans. It would happen in the southern palace. Everyone who wanted to come within the kingdom was invited. There were Atlantian merfolk, fish, cephalopods, and other critters that came around nearly every day to show him the newest! and in style! trends in merfolk attire. They seemed to be just as extravagant as what he wore for his coronation except these were more _wedding_ themed. 

It was the brink of December and Harry never rested, never had time for himself these days. He was always either at a Small Council meeting, on his throne listening to the troubles the commoners had, or meeting very important but very boring people. He couldn’t remember when the last time was that he actually spoke to either Niall or Liam for longer than a minute, or _together_ , alone, so they could be themselves for a little bit. His mother fussed over him all the time and so did _Simon_ of all people. It was beyond annoying. Gemma was off doing her own thing because she _could_. Harry was happy that at least one of them was content.

Simultaneously, he had never been so obedient and remembered his courtesies better than ever. Gemma had also been getting better at handling a weapon, which was the most interesting thing Harry had heard. It seemed to be the only real decent outcome from everything that had happened.

Today, merfolk of the northern Atlantic began to travel—that is, those who were in cooler waters did. Everyone was all packed up. Blue whales had arrived to transport bunches of them away. For the first time, Sirens were joining them, too, because there was a wedding on the first of January. Harry sat himself on a chariot because he could and was expected to. His two dolphins were on either side of it with Liam and Niall, too, and they were all off.

Aeron was next to him as well. The chariot was theirs. Gemma and mum were in a smaller one and Harry was honestly tired.

“Southern Atlantic waters are very nice.” Harry informed his fiancé when she had asked. “I mean, I like to think that the waters here are more moderate. Over there, they’re…” He shook his head with a small smile that was real, but didn’t exactly feel or look right. “they’re very, very warm. Positively comfortable.”

Aeron looked thoughtful. “So why not have the main palace be _there_? Even if the waters get cooler over there, wouldn’t they only drop to something moderate? Last I checked, it doesn’t exactly snow around the east coast of South America.”

Harry made a small noise, unsure of that exactly. “Well, I haven’t been on land, of course, so I couldn’t possibly _tell_ you.” The way he said it was so practiced. He had a way with charming and being funny, and it made her laugh. “So… from what I’ve seen in the summers over there—like right now?—not so much. Maybe it does snow in the winter over there. Maybe it snows all the time in some places. I’ll certainly never know.” He faced her properly. “But if you find a way to get that information like… if we were to one day walk on land and the like to see it for ourselves, you can get back to me.” To top it all off, he gave her a dimpled smile.

It was very… tiring, still, in the brink of December. He peered behind him for a moment, seeing whales blocking most of everything, but all he thought was that he was getting farther and farther from Louis. _What did it matter?_ Harry had completely fucked up. This would still be happening regardless, but knowing Louis wasn’t even in his life at all anymore was burning in his chest in the worst way. Harry did this to them both and it really just went terribly.

Oh, if he could only turn back time…

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Harry wondered if he had broken Louis’heart.

There were things he would never forget in his life. The purple sunrise, the human world, sea salt ice-cream, dancing, singing, and Louis were just among all those possible things. Unfortunately, something he desperately wished _would_ leave his head was the look on Louis’ face when Harry had told him. He had _never_ seen Louis angry and that was definitely worse than anything he could’ve imagined. If looks could kill, Harry would’ve been dead. Those eyes, those _brilliant_ sea eyes that were so unforgiving, those eyes that crinkled at the sides when he smiled so much or laughed, those eyes that could grow soft in seconds and light up with mischief the next, those eyes that spoke infinite words that were beautiful to Harry’s ears… had looked at Harry with hatred, with rage, like they were made of the sharpest icicles and had stabbed at him mercilessly.

Louis spoke fast when he got angry, too. Harry wouldn’t forget that sound, either. His accent grew thicker with how livid he was and cut through him like a knife. Things Harry would have never imagined would come out of Louis’ mouth _did_ that night, shot right at him, like they were artfully crafted to hurt him. Harry deserved it all, too. He deserved that punch in the face by truth that he _was_ responsible and needed to own up to it. He deserved Louis calling him a fish and saying that terrible thing to him. He deserved Louis shoving him back into the water where people _could’ve_ seen him if they weren’t so caught up with their festivities.

But this was done to Louis, too. He was hurt, there was no doubt about that. Harry had _hurt_ him. The one thing he wished to never do, he managed to do. Who knew that one mistake could cost so much?

Harry wrote letters to Louis, telling him how much he missed him and how sorry he was. It somehow made him feel better until he realized he could not send them. Louis was probably done with the beach, anyway, until late spring came along again. So, he kept them to himself. It was all he could do. He made extra care to hide them as best as he could. If anyone found those letters… well, he’d rather not think of what would happen.

It was on the twenty-fourth of December that Harry remembered it was Louis’ twenty-fifth birthday. Harry had asked Simon to deal with the commoners that day, gave him a hardened expression when Simon said Harry looked well fit to do it himself. “That’s an order.” Harry said icily, and that was that. Harry had his own day off to sigh in his bivalve shell and reread the letters Louis had sent him half a year ago. It drove him crazy to know he had met Louis way back then. It’s been so long.. 

How could he _do_ this?

“Happy birthday, Louis.” Harry whispered to himself with a sigh. He’d said he’d get him a present, but he was pretty sure Louis wouldn’t want anything to do with him right now. If Louis wasn’t going to near the beach until late spring, then there may be no point sending Jackie and Evan over with a present. Plus, who knows? Maybe the water was actually frozen. It would all be pointless.

Harry hoped he was having a nice birthday.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

It wasn’t anything special, getting married. Not to him. Royal marriages were political, not romantic. He did wonder if Aeron felt anything for him. Maybe not. Maybe they were just able to laugh with each other and be polite and that was it, so they could tolerate one another easier. Maybe that was just _him_ , though. Harry could definitely speak for himself and say that for sure. He didn’t even know when he genuinely smiled or laughed. Everything was tainted for him.

Aeron was hovering beside him looking rather beautiful. Never looked better, even, with sea flowers pinned to he hair—somehow. Harry didn’t know how—and every type of jewelry draped over her. Harry was more or less the same, but wore one of Louis’ sister’s clips in his hair to keep a flower in. It made it better. It just did.

He wished someone would say they objected. No one did. He wished he could say “I don’t”, but he couldn’t. The moment he said “I do”, he could feel his heart being slung over and locked in chains, like it was trapped. For _real_ this time.

It was then that he really decided he was going to dedicate so much of his time and thoughts to the ocean he ruled. There was no sense in dwelling on something that was long dead and finding every bit of misery he could. Harry was king, he had a queen, and he had an entire ocean to take care of to the best of his ability. This was his life now and it was always meant to be his life. It was so stupid of him to ever think something great could come his way and stay, that he could blend his old life and something new together so he could be happy.

The only happiness that mattered was that of the merfolk and sirens.

It was lucky that merfolk and sirens couldn’t entwine their tails—well, physically sure, but the act of it wasn’t as binding and euphoric at all—but Aeron slept in his bivalve with him. It was way too small for them both, what with Aeron’s tail being two and a half times bigger than any merfolk’s tail. It wrapped around the entire perimeter of the shell and Harry had to sleep in something that nearly resembled a fetal position. 

It was weird being… small, or maybe it was weird being small with someone who wasn't Louis.

Thankfully, Aeron was perfect. When Harry said he wasn’t sure if he was ready to go ahead and fertilize any eggs, she sighed out in relief because she wasn’t ready for kids herself. It was the first real moment he felt that maybe this _could_ be okay. After all, his mother and father had married from politics and fell in love later on. Maybe it could be the same here. Maybe Harry could try a little harder, be more genuine with her. 

Except… they were married, and not to mention, the first disagreement with the two of them had to come along _someday_.

It did just three weeks later. 

“Harry, darling, I wanted to ask you something." She had said when they were eating. Harry gave her a smile and nodded for her to continue before he looked down at his food to continue eating it. “I’m not quite sure if you know it or not, but sirens have a couple of games they like to play in an arena.” Harry licked his lips, his head still lowered, but his eyebrows raised and his smile disappeared.

“What?” He asked.

“Well, they’re for entertainment.” She said, very kindly and sounding like she was trying to reason. “Just a couple of fights from the strongest.” Harry was about to entirely decline when she also quipped with a, “I think it would help with gaining a lot of other sirens’ trust.” Harry couldn’t argue with that logic. “Maybe, I mean, you know, if a tiny bit of practices between us—our cultures and all—were more melded together.”

Why were sirens so _violent_? Why did they genuinely thrive from bloodshed? Harry was still about to decline, but he remembered that just marrying a siren to have as a queen and letting sirens live wherever they wanted as long as it was in the Atlantic didn’t immediately mean there was peace between merfolk and sirens. _All_ of it was so that his father’s wish for that peace was _not_ wasted. Harry had also been doing his best to focus on his people’s needs as much as possible, too. If sirens were his people now, he couldn’t just ignore them because they weren’t the exact same species.

So, Harry agreed.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

For his birthday, Harry got the games.

Underwater arenas _happened_ for musicians. They were chiseled by currents and oceanic powers of a king. Today, on the first of February, it would be in use for certain ‘games’ that involved sirens—and merfolk since that was… an option—to fight one another with spears, old blades, and shields on hand. Niall said humans had something similar once before—he was sure he said something about “Gladiators”, but he wasn’t positive—where they fought to the death. That sounded absolutely gruesome.

The sirens were just going to… to fight… right?

_Why were there spears?_

The two fighting sirens hovered side by side in the middle of a filled arena, facing Harry and Aeron. Harry had no idea as to why no one was doing anything. Had something happened? He looked over at Aeron with confusion, silently questioning if something was wrong.

“Around Capri, my father would’ve given the okay for them to start. Of course… here…” She looked over at him. “They’re waiting for you, dear.”

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed as he slowly looked away from her to look at the two sirens that waited ever so patiently. What was he supposed to do? His gills flitted hurriedly in anxiousness as he lifted his hands in front of him, stilling for a moment and looking around. _Poseidon, everyone’s staring at me_. Harry thought in horror, but he remained very composed. His hands came together quickly in a deafening clap from such silence, bubbles floating up from the quick motion, and everyone in the stands immediately roared and shrieked with excitement.

He wished he had never clapped.

Sirens lived with hatred and violence. It was a miracle that Aeron was everything the other typical sirens weren’t. He did his best to keep a straight face, seeing one siren trying to best the other with a sharp thing surging at each other every two seconds. It drove Harry completely mad the moment one of them was stabbed in the arm with blood gushing out. That would draw sharks. _That would draw sharks._

He was right, too, because as the two kept fighting, a shark came forward over the crowd and into the arena to eat the bleeding siren. He looked up the moment it happened to look anywhere _but_ there, his mind whirling with how he could’ve said yes to something like this. Harry certainly wasn’t having any fun, either. The crowd yelled and he couldn’t tell if it was from fear or excitement. No one was swimming away, so he supposed it was the latter. From the corner of his vision, he saw the shark swimming away and the remaining siren throw his arms up in success.

Harry only stared without a smile. Carefully, he looked over to his right to see his mother with a hand over her eyes and Niall looking sick. Liam’s head was staring down at the floor. Looking to his left, he saw Aeron clapping and grinning like this was the best thing that had ever happened in her life. 

When Harry looked around again, he couldn’t help noticing that all of the seats in the arena were occupied by only sirens.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Harry was going to be very honest with himself when it came to married life and king life after that; it wasn’t that bad.

Murderous fighting games aside, he was definitely tolerating Aeron more every day with how understanding she was for a lot of things. She respected merfolk traditions the same way he respected siren traditions. Kissing her was an afterthought—just something he knew he should do here and there. It felt more platonic and he had a feeling it was the same with her. They were doing _okay_. They both participated in Small Council meetings amiably and extensively. Surprisingly, Harry wasn’t even minding Simon as his Hand. Simon was just doing his job at the end of the day. He wasn’t exactly being passive aggressive anymore, either. 

Maybe Simon had been waiting for Harry to prove himself a good king all along.

Harry was also more enthused when speaking to the commoners who presented their issues to him daily. Most of the merfolk here spoke a different merfolk language, but after years of traveling back and forth from the North to the Southern Atlantic and back, he’d picked up a few different languages here and there—even different human ones, too. They were different sounds, different click patterns, the echoes vibrated a bit differently, too. It would be impossible to pick up the small differences to a human.

Thankfully, another way a merperson could learn another merlanguage was to exchange a kiss.

So, really, he was fine. His spirits were lifting up a little and he was able to give even more attention to everyone around him. It didn’t seem like he was lost in thought anymore, but that didn’t mean Harry stopped thinking about Louis. 

The thought of Louis had become more of a dull ache when June came along. It was… it was just bittersweet. He definitely would always cherish the moments they shared, but it was in the past now and he could not dwell on it any longer. Harry thought of Louis to make sure he remembered him every day. He knew Louis wasn’t dead or anything—as far as he knew, of course—but them seeing one another was an accepted impossibility now. His heart and soul were truly put into the kingdom’s wellbeing. 

Harry and Aeron attended races, shows, and fights often when they could. Harry was getting used to the fights despite not liking them at all. The races and shows were _perfection_ , something they both definitely enjoyed. They chanced going near the shores of Montevideo due to _large_ waves and laughing at a few humans that got swallowed up in them. They were never caught. Harry never tried to get closer, either, but he did quietly gleam at the sight of the little boats and beach attire people wore as they spoke Spanish and relaxed happily.

Another life entirely, but it was nearing winter now here, which meant it was time to head back. So, on the twelfth of June, Harry was home back in the waters across England.

He may or may not definitely be trying to see if he could escape and see if Louis was out on the beach. Just to see.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**L**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Louis spiraled a little.

There was this guy and that guy and that other guy and some other guy and then some. There were clubs and bars where he could lose himself and cease to think of anything troubling him. There was heat, there were moans, there was drunken laughter, and Zayn hated it because Louis was, above all,  _sad_. So, naturally, Louis knew he was sad somewhere deep down and only needed Zayn to call him out on it to really start getting back onto his feet.

“It’s fine, all right? It’s fine that you’re screwing whoever you want to every other day but I want to come home without worrying about seeing your arse up on our dinner table and _Abby_ looking petrified from it all. It’s like something switched in your head after the beach party and you just—Louis, I don’t know _what’s_ going on, but you’re honestly fucking stupid if you don’t see that you’re running on empty—and give me _that_!” Zayn had said, grabbing a bottle of liquor from his hand and the glass he’d poured it into. Louis didn’t even get upset about it. Zayn being upset at him was never a fun time. “What’s the _matter_? Talk to me, I’m your best friend!”

He didn't know where to start, either. It was a bleak end to November and this had been going on since the middle of September. At first, Zayn had eyed him skeptically and thought that, well, hey, maybe Louis was just having fun. It was the time to do that, after all. Some weeks later, Zayn had asked him for the first time if he was okay and Louis _did_ go off on him in his buzzed state of mind, said he was just having fun and to mind his own business. So, Zayn left it alone… until some day at the end of November, Louis didn’t know or care which, but it was a day he needed to arrive.

Louis told Zayn the truth about Harry. It wasn’t terrible to do so because Zayn knew about merfolk existing now. Louis just shed more light on the subject before delving into _Harry_ , telling him that they didn’t really go to Boston on the yacht but around the world (“You _what_?! That small yacht isn’t supposed to be able to do that at that speed! It’s impossible—you could've broken my _boat_.”). Louis told him about how he met Harry _before_ all that and had been keeping in touch with him, so that’s why it was so easy to jump at the opportunity to help him out. He also mentioned the largest reason of it all; that he had very strong feelings for Harry and that Harry didn’t tell him he was engaged until it was way too late.

Zayn’s hands were holding his head from such an overload of information that Louis was afraid he had broken him. His sparkling brown eyes were wide as if he was still trying to register everything. Louis only sighed and drank a glass of water Zayn had gotten him before shrugging and saying, “Now you know.” before heading off to go to bed.

Just as Louis got into bed, Zayn and his cat hurried in to snuggle with him, which Louis was grateful for. Zayn broke the gentle gesture by talking, but it made them both laugh a little. “So, like, I know I don’t mind paying for stuff and all but get a job.” He knew he should. He hadn't done anything with the satchel full of impossible-to-get-even-if-one-scuba-dived ocean fossils and megalodon teeth. Louis didn't know how he was going to get around to selling those, but he would some day and was sure he'd get bank from it all. Right now, the fossils sat untouched in his closet.

So, Louis nodded tiredly before snoozing off. “Fine, fine.” He whispered with a yawn. “I’ll look for one first thing. Promise.” Truth be told, Louis felt bad about not working. He knew Zayn was capable because being an ace tattooist got him bank in tips and a fine weekly pay—not to mention, his parents would always support him if need be—but Louis lived with him and had to continue to pitch in. It just wasn't fair if he didn’t.

The next day, he did just that. He searched around the boardwalk shops just across the beach which seemed to go on forever. Nothing particularly caught his eye—most of it was consisted of stores just selling clothes and accessories—until he came across one of the most _popular_ sea food restaurants it contained.

_The Mermaid Scale_.

Louis walked into the busy restaurant and asked to speak about working there. It was luck that a host position opened recently due to someone moving away. He filled out an application with a smile and left.

It was soon that Louis heard from the restaurant a couple of weeks later in mid December to come in for a proper interview. Louis thankfully had the experience of working in his late father's seafood restaurant before.

The knowledge came in handy. He had gotten the job at the end of the interview and he actually felt really, genuinely content—as small as it was—for the first time since he last saw Harry.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Louis’ birthday was incredible.

His family had come over and completely smothered him—well, all except his stepdad. He worked a lot. The eldest of his younger siblings—Lottie and Fizzy—were on their phones a lot of the time but continually asked about how he’s been. Zayn had come home with a gift certificate to the tattoo shop he worked at… except he made it himself with colored pencils. Basically, it was a free tattoo from him, and Louis couldn’t have been more psyched.

They had him blow out the candles after singing happy birthday to him and for some reason, his mum always made a big deal out of it. “Make a wish!” The older twins, Phoebe and Daisy shouted, and Louis pressed his lips together tightly. Wishes, it seemed, worked only with a catch. He hummed in thought as he looked over at Zayn, who gave him a sad smile, and then he nodded. _I wish I could be this happy forever,_ he thought, and blew out the candles. That way, if it didn’t come true, he wouldn’t be that disappointed.

Things took a twist when they watched a Harry Potter movie while they ate cake. Louis had gotten up midway to go check on Abby, who had gotten pregnant a couple months ago and had been in a frenzy the past some days. She had her food and water in Louis' room now because she chose  _his_ room for her birthing and kept there most of the time now.

“Holy shit,” Louis whispered with a surprised huff the moment he entered the room. There on a large, comfy cat bed up against Louis' was Abby and five very tiny balls of fur. Abby chirped lightly and looked at Louis with her gentle eyes, looking tired and proud, before being mercilessly attacked by hungry kittens for milk. Louis bit his lip as he smiled brightly before turning from his room.

He sprinted into the living room with a bounce in his step, his thumb pointing behind him. “Abby just gave _birth_.” He laughed incredulously.  Zayn had exclaimed happily and hurried over to Louis' room, too.  His sisters sprung to their feet and hurried past him to see and his mother was already asking him questions about if he knew, who was the other cat, et cetera et cetera. "Of course I knew, I just didn't tell you because you'd be fretting over her when I know for sure I could do everything in my power to make sure this all went smoothly. And it did, it seems." Of course his mother the vet would love this sort of thing. It was right up her alley.

They made their way to his room. Zayn, Louis, and Louis’ mum sat closest to Abby to make sure she was doing okay, that the kits were doing okay. They differed from color since Abby _was_ a calico cat. Louis guessed the father might be from the tabby cat he’d seen a few times. Their tiny mewls could make anyone go soft. They were so small and fragile, climbing up over each other to nurse and toppling off—more specifically, the tiny black one. “Oh, darling, up here.” Louis whispered, helping the tiny black cat fit between its siblings.

“So we can all have one?” Daisy asked. “One for each of us?”

“Absolutely not! That would mean I get four cats in my house because you girls live _with_ me!” Louis’ mum said, Ernest and Doris holding onto her hands. She turned to Louis and immediately dove right into a lecture  on how to take care of newborn kittens. Louis and Zayn listened very carefully while the twins started naming and claiming some of the kittens already. He honestly was having a pretty nice birthday. Every protective instinct over the cats were on fire and he felt very ready to help Abby when needed. 

This was perfect, but he couldn’t help thinking how Harry would be gushing over the kittens being born. He’d probably say something stupid about how it was a _sign_ that they were born on his birthday or something along those lines. Louis continued to listen, but his mind was also running, wishing Harry were here to join him just _because_ , and yet he _really_ wished he’d stop thinking that when he was supposed to be upset at him.

Louis was upset, but not to the point where he meant they were truly done with each other. He needed Harry in his life no matter how it was. He missed him and he understood. Maybe if the roles were reversed, Louis would’ve accidentally done the same.

Maybe, just maybe.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

The first of February rolled around and Louis was tired. He couldn’t help thinking—even as he looked up at the mother, father, and toddler that came in through the restaurant door (“Just the three of you? Oh, I’m guessing you’ll want the kid’s menu— _no?!_ Well if you insist you’re a big girl, then you’re a big girl. There’s no denying that. Alright—come along, follow me!” but he still left a kiddie menu with crayons in case they got bored.) that it was Harry’s twenty-third birthday. He was sure he’d said he would try to get him a present, too, but maybe that was all a promise for the past.

Louis could get him more hair clips. He could get him more shoes—or little boats, really, because Harry liked calling them that instead—even if he didn’t have a purpose to wear them anymore. Last he checked, Harry stole a couple of his own pairs before he wished that Harry’s—and his own—wish would come true, thus granting Harry the ability to have legs on land when dry from ocean water. Louis wondered if Harry still had other shoes he had stolen from other people wherever he hid them. He wondered if Harry sometimes looked at the green sandals and sighed to himself. He wondered if Harry missed him as much as Louis missed him.

He had Harry’s human clothes still. He didn’t know why he did, but he did. They were in the back of his closet in a box and Louis should really think about donating that all since he was sure Harry was never going to wear those again in his life. Harry’s clothes were too large for him anyway. Maybe Louis could use the t-shirts because their larger size made it perfect for nightwear on Louis’ slim figure.

Okay. Maybe… _maybe_ Louis actually… maybe he didthat sometimes already. Even _he_ knew it was just plain weird to do that, but it was officially the closest thing he had of Harry’s. Maybe Harry meant a lot more to him than he could ever admit to himself—which was also just _stupid_ , because a bitter part of him told him that he obviously didn’t mean as much to Harry if Harry elongated telling him the truth until it was just _too late_. 

Was Harry happy?

“Your server—his name is Ed—will be right with you.” Louis told the little family as he set coasters on the table with glasses and bendy straws alongside three empty, small plates. He gave them all a smile before he headed to the podium at the front. No one else was around, so it would be okay to think of Harry some more until his presence or acknowledgement was needed.

Louis was actually very good at his job. He always spoke to the kids and commented on how cute babies were. He would always have a soft spot for children. Helping his mum pretty much raise his sisters was no  _picnic_ , after all. So, yeah, one could say Louis was incredible with children. As young as he was, he definitely knew for a fact that he wanted kids one day.

Was Harry married now? Did he have a kid now? Or two? Weren’t heirs sort of important in that royal life? Louis had to skip to thinking of something else immediately. Harry with kids was a thought he could not cross again. He couldn’t cross it because Louis knew Harry would care for them and laugh with them loud and sudden. Maybe he’d be a stern parent, too. He wasn’t quite sure. He definitely seemed like he could be. Maybe Harry would read _The Prince and the Pauper_ to his mer kids—or whatever they were called. Would they be like Harry, too? Would they be able to walk on the land if they wished it?

Wasn’t Louis supposed to try to think about something _else_?

He did know what, though. After his shift, he was going to Zayn’s shop to get tattooed on his right arm. Might as well use up that free tattoo by his best mate, right?

Louis was off an hour later and hurried to the tattoo shop. “It’s Harry’s birthday.” he had said when he entered Zayn’s portion of the shop. Zayn only sighed and ushered for him to “sit your arse down on the chair for fuck’s sake.” So, Louis did, and Zayn started prepping his arm for the stencil, then for the tattoo itself, and then the room was filled with Zayn’s hip hop music and a buzzing noise that seemed to really calm him.

He might’ve gotten a tattoo of a compass that pointed to home. He might’ve, because _honestly_ , that was fucked up on its own how that happened. Louis replayed that moment of his life a lot more than one would think because _that_ had to be a sign. Except, then he would shake his head at himself and roll his eyes because he was being fucking stupid. Harry was gone and that was that. After all, Louis did tell him to fuck off forever pretty much, so this was all exactly what was supposed to happen.

Right?

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**H**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

_Saturday,_ _24 June, 2017_

“No, absolutely not.”

Harry curled his tail angrily at the suggestion. Merfolk who were in school learned about life in the ocean, about all the creatures in the sea, about how to create new and exciting things. They did _not_ go to school to learn how to kill humans. Where was this even _coming_ from? The mere _idea_ that _any_ merperson would actually agree to something like that was laughable. Merpeople would never willingly rise up to the surface and lure humans on boats to their deaths. It was just not realistic. Merfolk were _not_ sirens. They were not a violent or murderous species, especially towards _humans_ , no less.

“Your Highness, be reasonable—“ Griffiths said, but Harry cut him off.

“I’ve heeded every bit of council you’ve given me, Lord Commander, but I will _not_ fall through with this one. I am putting my tail down with this one.” His voice was stern, his gaze harsh. Slowly but surely, Harry had been able to start to really morph the ideas his Council shared with him to something much more pleasing. He understood their reasoning _always_ —to gain the permanent trust of the sirens, adapt their culture, et cetera et cetera—but this was absolutely _mad_. “I draw the line with this one. I will not have merfolk be made out to be killers to humans up above.”

Aeron beside him looked distraught that Harry wasn’t agreeing with this one little suggestion. “But, dear—“ she began, and Harry turned to face her. His hardened expression softened a moment as he looked at her, sighing, but begging with his eyes to understand _his_ point for once. “It could be good. Merfolk can learn valuable… defensive and offensive skills that could come in handy if something worse comes along, even.”

“Be that is it may, I simply cannot allow it.” Harry said simply, but with finality. “Merfolk cannot be expected to simply disregard every fear they’ve had for years.”

Benjamin the seahorse had died, so Niall was shining as Master of Whisperers. Thankfully, some of the Council was of his own choice finally. Unfortunately, Liam wasn’t in his rightful place quite yet, but Simon hasn’t given Harry a reason to distrust him for months. It was all good. “From what I’ve _seen_ , what I’ve read, I’ve formulated a guess that’s more… educational, if you will, that fears might be passed down from our ancestors’ old fears. If merfolk were afraid of humans for centuries, it’s not something that will easily be forgotten because of a law that states those that go to school must now be forced to learn luring, trapping, offensive and defensive techniques to _kill humans_. It’s not just unrealistic, it may as well be entirely impossible. The entire kingdom would be in the dungeons just because they wouldn’t agree to this. Not to mention merfolk do not really wish the death upon every human. We're just scared.”

Harry could kiss Niall. He did a _real_ good job in choosing him as Master of Whisperers.

“Fine. Fine.” Simon said, sounding completely agitated. “It’s off the table.”

Thank Poseidon.

“And it will never be put _on_ the table ever again.” Harry said firmly. There were muttered whispers of acknowledgement and Harry smiled. “Alright, then. Everything’s settled. Until next time. Simon, will you…” Harry said as he lifted up from the stump of coral he sat on, his voice trailing off. Simon bowed his head with a smile. “Great.” Aeron reached for his hand. Harry took it like it was automatic—and it was—and they swam graciously out of the room and down the hall.

Aeron sighed and rested her head on Harry’s arm. “I do think I’m going to rest a little bit if you don’t mind, my king?” She told him sleepily. Harry smiled and nodded down at her. 

“Of course you can, be sure to rest well, too.” She lifted her head up and Harry paused as she came in front of him. She offered her hand and Harry took it in his to kiss the back of it. Yes, he had to. There were palace staff roaming everywhere in these halls. This couldn’t fall short. Harry did this pretty easily by now, was able to smile a bit more sincerely and care about Aeron’s wellbeing. He _did_ care for her wellbeing, just platonically. “I’ll come see you at a later time.”

They parted ways.

Harry snuck out of the palace walls like he knew how to. Simon was going to have a field day with taking on Harry’s duties—and it was the first time since Louis' birthday that Simon had to —and so was Harry. Things in the ocean were calm and peaceful. Everything seemed to be going just about right. His mother had hurried over to him yesterday and suggested he take a personal day of his own to relax. Harry couldn’t pretend he wasn’t enthused by the suggestion. He _really_ was. Poseidon knows he was tired.

The first thing that happened was him running into Gemma. She had nearly shot a spear straight through his head had Harry not ducked just in time. “Whoa! What was that for?!” He asked, his hands flying to his head protectively as relief settled in. He was _not_ dead.

“I’m practicing!” Gemma swam over to him quickly with a small, apologetic laugh. “Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you coming along!”

“Trying to kill me, obviously. First attempted assassination by my own sister.” Harry shook his head at her as she patted his head and hurried to grab the spear. He turned to see where it had landed, his eyes widening in shock. Gemma was actually a _real_ natural with that thing. It hit the target perfectly. “Wow, Gemma.” Harry voiced, impressed. “You’re not so bad with a spear. Ever thought of being in my kingsguard?” He asked with a joking smile.

“Oh _can I_?” Gemma asked, sarcasm lacing her oceanic voice, but her face was serious. “Wouldn’t that be nice? It’d be nice, right? I wouldn’t have to worry about being a princess anymore. Just use a spear and defend my brother and the kingdom from harmful people.” Harry’s eyebrows quirked and a sad, but hopeful smile formed on his face. “I think I’d be quite good at that, yeah?”

Harry shrugged. “I don’t see why not, really.” That was the truth, too. Why couldn’t Gemma be what she wanted to be? If she wanted to be a guard, then so be it. If she wanted to defend with the threat of a weapon to back her up because she knew how to use it, then why not? Gemma _wasn’t_ a violent person. Merfolk weren’t violent, but guards had weapons in case they were needed. Gemma _was_ protective, though. He knew that much. “Is that something you… you might actually want to do?”

His older sister shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean, I don’t know, I don’t know…” she drawled. Harry grinned, raising his eyebrows at her. She was funny, beating around the bush, trying not to seem eager that he’d even _asked_. “Of _course_ I might actually want to do that sort of thing! Poseidon knows just about anything else is less stressful and confining than being a royal—no offense.”

Harry couldn’t argue. He laughed. “None taken. And you are _still_ royal, so _really_ , none taken.” 

Her eyes lit up. “It would be really nice. I think I’d be good at it given a bit more practice, maybe.” The kingsguard was made up of mermen. That had always been how it was. If Harry’s reign could break traditions—such as bringing merfolk and sirens _together_ as one, or, well, _this_ , where Gemma could be a princess who wanted to be a part of her brother’s kingsguard, thus being the first _mermaid_ to be a part of it—then maybe he really wasn’t off to a bad start. 

“I’ll definitely have a word with the Lord Commander one of these days to see if… if you could maybe be among their numbers.”

Gemma was working on grabbing the spear from the coral wall she’d stuck it through, straining to pull it out until she did, and the force nearly sent her flying backwards. At his words, she swam up right in front of him with wide, excited eyes.“You will?!”

“Yeah! Yeah, Gemma, why not? You’re my sister and I care about your happiness just as much as anyone’s, if not more. I’ll just… have to bring it up with mum first.” He smiled brightly. “But she loves us. You’re freer than I am so I…” He shrugged. “I mean, why does it have to be a thing that the rules have to stay the same forever? Whoever made the ones we have now happen had to have changed the rules that’ve come before, right?”

“Very right. Keep that mindset.” They smiled at each other again before Harry started swimming off. “Erm, where are you _going_?”

“I don’t know!” Harry shouted without stopping, grinning over his shoulder. Gemma shook her head at him and jokingly threatened to throw the spear at him again. He set his eyes forward, his spirits lighter after having had run into Gemma.

Liam was a guard he came across next when he slipped out from the walls from the bottom. He swam across the bottom from the opening and heard his name being called from all the way at the top of the wall. He froze, looking up slowly, only to see Liam’s purple tail swishing back and forth lazily with his arms crossed as he shook his head. “Where are you going?” He asked. Wow, he really wished he could go away once in a while. It’d been over a year since he had a break of his own where he could escape the from the palace walls, and _this_ time it was one he had to give himself.

“Out.” Harry answered back. Liam groaned and waved his arm forward, beckoning him away. Harry beamed and swam off, but then, Liam was right in front of him. He didn’t look stern, but more bashful. “What’s up?”

“I know where you’re going, Harry.” He said. Harry sighed, bubbles passing from his gills as he gave Liam a sad look. “While I don’t think it’s a good idea, who am I to stop you when you’ve got your first _personal_ day in months?” Harry appreciated that. “If you… if you get the chance… you know, depending on the context of everything that goes on _up there_ on the surface and all…” Liam shrugged. “Do you think you could ask if Zayn’s used up his wish?”

Harry beamed. “Of course I can.” Liam sighed with relief. “I’ll even ask how he’s doing if that interests you.”

Liam scoffed. “No, no, I just wanted to know what he used the wish for if he did—yeah, though, I mean, if he’s doing good that’s a nice sign. The humans that try to protect ocean life rather than hurt it deserve to, er… yeah. Have a good, like, life.”

“Get back to your post, mate.” Harry laughed, shaking his head. Liam nodded his head with a bow and Harry rolled his eyes when he did. “Don’t—for the love of Poseidon, you and Niall and mum and Gemma still treat me like a person. I’m half joking, too.”

Liam rolled his eyes. “I’ve had training, what can I say?” Liam nodded regardless and clapped Harry on the shoulder. “Be careful up there.”

“I will, I will.” Harry hummed in his silvery, merman voice before swimming off again towards his secret grotto to grab his sandals, then headed his way towards the beach.

He greeted merfolk and sea creatures he came across with a smile. Harry was allowed to hold a newborn son from a married couple of mermaids. He looked up at them both with a bright smile. “Can he swim on his own yet or no?”

The blonde mermaid laughed and shook her head. “Not properly, no.”

The red-haired mermaid placed her hand on the blonde. “Wait,” she said. “he can definitely swim a couple feet. Remember the other day?” She asked, arching an eyebrow. 

“Oh yes! How could I forget?!”

Their son was a spitting image of them both. The blonde had blue eyes, and the blue eyes were passed down, but he also had the fiery red hair from his other mother. He was cute, too, which was just a perfect bonus. Harry grinned down at him and cooed some gentle nonsense to the baby until the kid smiled happily and giggled, tiny bubbles floating out of his mouth. “He’s cute, you two.” He said as he carefully passed him back over to the red haired mermaid. “Congratulations to you both, really. I’m so happy for you.” His water, echoey sounding voice giggled uncontrollably at a particularly cute thing the little baby did. “Bye bye!” Harry waved his finger at him before he swam off again, waving at the mothers and thinking how nice everything was.

The moment Harry stuck his head out of the water—only halfway, just enough to see—he was overwhelmed with a burst of nostalgia of yesteryear. Had it already been over a year since he’d met Louis on this very beach? His eyes darted over to the rocky pathway. That was where Louis used to fish. That was where Harry stole his little boats for a couple of days straight until Louis caught him.

There was the cliff they sat on for a whole night. Just talking. Just sleeping for a little bit. Just waiting for the purple sunrise. Just having their hopes elevated for the first time in who knows how long. Had it really been over a _year_?

And yet, Harry could remember that day as if it had just happened yesterday.

He swam over to the rocky pathway and pulled himself up. The sun was hot and everyone was on the beach today, so he was careful when he dried himself in an instant as he held his tail up from the water. His tail turned into legs with green swim trunks to replace it. He slipped on his sandals and hummed delightedly at them as he flexed his feet up and down and wiggled his toes. Harry didn’t know just how much he missed being on feet until now. It was good to have them again.

But _now_ what? He looked around the beach as he got on his feet to jump down onto the sand on the other side of the rocks. Louis didn’t seem to be anywhere. But… but why should he immediately try to go find Louis? He shouldn’t. It was probably a lost cause with him. Maybe he didn’t even work on the beach anymore. 

He was about to forget everything and just head back into the water when he caught sight of a familiar old man. _This_ was Louis’ old boss, Carl! With a sigh of relief, Harry sprinted over to him across the beach as he served ice cream popsicles to kids, teens and adults who needed it. Harry now craved sea salt ice-cream. _Wow_ , he missed a lot of things about being human. Even running over to the cart was exhilarating and brought upon that _free_ feeling.

Harry slowed once he reached the cart, waiting patiently as Carl handed a little boy some popsicle that _somehow_ looked like the spiderman hero on Louis’ little boats. _Stop thinking about him_ , Harry thought, and yet his next actions contradicted that thought entirely.

Carl looked up to see Harry approach the cart. “Louis’ friend.” He said. Harry’s face fell from that. They weren’t friends or anything anymore. 

“Not so much nowadays,” he confessed. “but I was wondering if you might know where he is anyway?”

The old man smiled, but looked thoughtful. “I’ve heard something about him _maybe_ working in a restaurant on the boardwalk just on the other side of the carpark and street here.” He said, jabbing a finger behind him. “I think… er… I _think_ he might be at _The Mermaid Scale_. Huge seafood place, can’t miss it. Just going down right.” He turned his body halfway behind to gesture with his hand. Harry followed the direction he was pointing at and nodded.

“Thank you so much.” He said before walking away, but Carl called at him again.

“Son,” he said, pulling out paper currency and handing it to Harry. “Buy a shirt before you go into the restaurant.”

“Oh…” Harry took it graciously before thanking him again and promising he would indeed buy a shirt. He grinned before heading over to the wall. He walked up the steps, feeling a little bit proud that he could do this on his own. He remembered when he had returned after they met three months before and he and Louis went out along the town to shop for food and clothing. He remembered he had to look both ways before crossing the street to make sure nothing was about to run over him.

The cars didn’t even scare him anymore. He still thought they were confusing beyond belief, but they definitely weren’t scary. He watched them go by him and when he could, he walked forward until he was safe again. He saw someone packing up their car in the carpark and a beach ball started rolling away. “Oh!” The woman cried out as she stuffed some other… _whatever_ into the back of the car. 

So, Harry walked over to retrieve it for her since she looked busy. He didn’t want it to keep rolling away from her. With a smile, he handed it back to her with outstretched arms. “There you go.” He said, dimples appearing at the sides of his mouth.

“Thank you! I do appreciate it.”

Harry softly laughed as he shook his hair and slowly started walking off again. “It’s no problem. Bye!” He wiggled his fingers as he waved, happy that that had gone pretty well. 

There were so many boardwalk shops. They mostly sold clothes and accessories. Harry entered one that had one of those tiny bottles filled with sand and seashells that Louis had told him about in their letters. He almost shouted because he didn’t understand what the point of it was if the sand and seashells were literally right over there on the very _real_ beach. Before he got any angrier, he turned to look at shirts that were all mostly short sleeved and light.

Unfortunately, these shirts weren’t as exciting as the ones from the “mall”, as Louis called it. These may all be very nautical themed, and that _might_ be one of the redeeming qualities, but he just wasn’t sure about them. His eyes roamed around until a girl at the counter asked if he needed any help. Harry blinked at her before seeing the wall that she was in front of. It had a bunch of shirts, sweaters, trousers, and even hats that had Harry’s eyes bulging out of their sockets. 

One plain white shirt had a large outline of an anchor laced with a rope smack dab in the middle of the shirt. Harry wanted it. He pointed a finger up over at it as he came closer, figuring he should probably also answer her before it got weird. “Can I have that shirt?” He asked, before adding a quick, “Please?” when he got to the counter.

“Sure! It’s vinyl heat press transfer so I can make it right here for you.” Harry blinked. “What size?” She asked. Harry saw the large price sign at the top and looked at the paper currency Carl had given him. Thankfully, he had enough. 

“Large, please.” He said. It was a safe bet. He was rather tall and broad. Harry flashed her a smile as she grabbed a shirt that had absolutely nothing on it. He watched as she grabbed something that looked like the anchor on a clear piece of paper before she set the shirt on a platform and the design right on top of it, making sure it was straight. She then placed something over it all to protect it. Harry was in awe, his mouth falling open when she closed something large over it and waited a few seconds before pulling it up. Right before his eyes, the girl peeled off the plastic-like paper, leaving the design stuck right on the shirt itself. “Oh, wow…” he whispered.

The girl softly laughed. “Never seen one of these before?”

His excited eyes looked up at her as he shook his head. “Never in my life.”

Harry easily paid her and received some change back. He quickly made a mental note to hand this back to Carl, feeling terrible that he had taken his money so easily, but if he needed a shirt to see Louis, then oh well, right? He wondered why Carl helped him so easily, first with the ice-cream last time, being patient, and now with giving him money for a shirt. Either way, it warmed his heart, even if Carl  _did_ look a bit like a skeleton. His heart was good and he deserved a wish.

Tugging on the shirt as he stepped outside—while also pulling out his pearl necklace from the inside of his shirt—he headed down the boardwalk again to find the restaurant. He couldn’t believe that there was a restaurant called _The Mermaid Scale_. Of course, Harry was a bit worried in entering it. It was a seafood place, right? They served _fish_ , didn’t they? As long as Louis wasn’t cooking them or fishing them anymore, Harry supposed that was fine. Actually, Harry was upset at any existence of seafood restaurants in the human world, but there was nothing he could do about it other than bitterly accept their existence.

It came at him so fast he almost missed it. The sign was gorgeous, in some script-like font with a mermaid logo. Harry pressed his lips together, staring at the logo for a bit. Humans weren’t _that_ far off with how merfolk looked, and he knew that, too, after seeing _The Little Mermaid_ at Louis’, of course. He’d just forgotten that humans know about them. He looked down to the door, seeing a family walk out and a couple walk in. 

He didn’t know _why_ he didn’t walk in yet. It was clearly what he had come here to do. Maybe it was because this was a _seafood_ restaurant and he definitely was a bit nervous of entering that sort of environment. Then again, maybe he was just using that as a cover up because he was scared Louis was going to still hate him if they were face to face once more after months of _not_.

Yes, that sounded much more accurate.

Some minutes later, he remembered how to use his legs and walked forward to enter the restaurant. Immediately, his eyes, ears, and nose were on high alert with everything in the restaurant. He could hear a dull roar of chatter from people sitting around at tables. _Tables_. There was a lovely blue and white theme of color around. Harry saw a few large tanks of fish—one of them being in the waiting area where some people sat at. Then, there was a long table of stools that seemed almost separate from the rest of the restaurant.

It smelled like every type of food imaginable and it smelled _so good_. Harry cringed at that, but he sat down as a woman came over to seat a group of friends at a table. He sighed, raking his hand through his hair anxiously. Right, where was Louis? His eyes roamed around again, trying to find the familiar man, but he didn’t see any sign of him anywhere… until he looked back at the podium beside the door.

Louis was putting something away that held menus, napkins, and utensils. Harry stood up, his heart drumming fast against his chest with every step he took towards the podium. He didn’t know _why_ he knew, but he definitely knew how Louis’ back looked like and _yes_ , this was Louis. His eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the nape of his neck. Had his hair grown a little bit? 

When Louis turned around, he wasn’t looking up, but seemed to know _someone_ was standing right at the podium in front of him. He reached into the podium as he spoke before his hand lifted up onto it and his head rose.“Hello, table for…“ 

His voice trailed off and Louis looked like he’d been frozen. Harry felt frozen himself, but mostly because he couldn’t _believe_ this was Louis. He was clean shaven, his eyes still that unforgiving blue-green even if they didn’t hold any anger in them at the moment—which was a relief on its own—and his hair had grown just a bit longer. His fringe was pushed up to the side away from his face and he looked really… _nice_. It sort of matched the uniform he wore, too, like it was classy.

Harry waited for that anger to light up his eyes, but it never did. It was just shock because this was unexpected, and it held something else that Harry simply couldn’t allow himself to assume. He couldn’t think that Louis missed him, was sad, like seeing him for the first time in months had any professional, friendly or casual exterior he put on for his job slowly disappearing by the second as softness took over instead.

He should leave. Harry should leave. What was he thinking? One of them had to speak, right? Maybe he should speak first. Maybe he shouldn’t. He didn’t know. This sort of thing had never happened to him before. Harry swallowed hard before he ran over a bunch of things he could say right now—as if it _mattered_ what he would say right now, like it would dictate if Louis snapped at him next or if he didn’t—but all that came out of his mouth was a bit of a stuttered, “Hello.”

Louis’ eyebrows quirked sadly. He pressed his lips together, their eyes never leaving each other’s. He sucked in a huge breath and let it out verbally and quietly. “Hi.” One of the corners of Harry’s lips lifted a little. Louis didn’t seem angry, but he seemed something else that looked _sad_. Harry had done that, hadn’t he? He did that to Louis? He never hated something more that he had done. “Harry, I need to seat other people.” He said, his lashes fluttering as he looked away from him. “Is this important or can it wait a little?”

He didn’t say it unkindly. It was just gentle and serious. There was another surge of relief running through him as he shook his head. “No, no, I can… I can wait. Of course.” He smiled softly and received only a nod as Louis quickly looked over at someone else and started talking so easily and animatedly, even if Harry could hear the slightest bit of anxiousness in his voice. He saw Louis crouching down to a kid and it warmed Harry’s heart to see Louis like that. Louis lifted a hand up and received a high five before fist pumping the air and standing up again to lead the family to their seats once he marked something that rested on the podium.

Harry saw Louis talking to someone else that was dressed like him and received a nod. Both Louis and that man—who looked like a friend, really—came over. The man stood at the podium and said something about a “Booth?” and Louis rolled his eyes with an amused smile before nodding. He motioned for Harry to get up. Harry followed him silently as Louis reached behind the podium to grab two menus and utensils, turning to look at Harry briefly before jerking his head as a silent, _come on_.

The two of them sat down at a booth in the back. Louis took out coasters for them both.

“How did you find me?” Louis asked as he opened up the menu. Harry did the same.

“Carl.”

“ _Carl_. Christ.” Louis whispered with a tiny scoff. He looked up and tilted his head at Harry. “Clothes too? That’s new.”

“Yes."

“Order something from the sides, I don’t want you having a heart attack.”

“Okay.”

It was so curt. Harry wasn’t sure if they were okay anymore—not that they ever were, but when they _saw_ each other… Harry didn’t know. Maybe Louis was freaking out just as much as he was. Maybe he wasn’t and Harry was being incredibly stupid. It was unfortunate. He was sure he had had some idea as to what he wanted to say to Louis in general, see how he was doing, but now he simply couldn’t remember any possible word or set of words to say to him at all. So, Harry looked at his menu again, reading many fish names and feeling his stomach churn at the thought of all those fish being eaten so easily for a price.

He heard his name a few times, but it was so dull and his mind was running just about everywhere it possibly could that he didn’t notice it until Louis was carefully pulling the menu down from the top, drawing Harry’s eyes back up at him. “Harry.” He said, and Harry dropped the menu to lie flat on the table as if it had zapped him. “Sorry.” Louis retracted his hand and Harry didn’t know why he apologized. He shouldn’t apologize at all. “I was just going to ask why you were here. Don’t you have a kingdom to run?”

Once again, the way Louis spoke wasn’t unkind. He really _did_ seem calm and gentle, which was nice, but who knows what was running through his head. He seemed genuinely curious in a way that was trying to seem also casual and nonchalant, as if they were talking about the weather. Harry cleared his throat and folded his hands on the table graciously, seeing Louis’ eyes glance down at them before meeting his gaze again. “My Hand’s taking care of it today. I’ve sort of given myself a day off. Haven’t really had one since…” Harry shrugged.

“Okay.” Louis closed his menu and sat back against the booth, looking tired and distraught. “So you decided to spend your day off… on land… and come see _me_?” Well, when he put it _that_ way, it sounded absurd. It was absurd. Louis looked at Harry like he pitied him. “Harry, you can’t _do_ that, do _this_ , I mean.” He sighed heavily, leaning his elbows on the table and holding his head. “After so long and stuff. I mean, y'know, I... like, I was thinking about this all and stuff and—you _can’t_.”

“I did.” Harry said firmly. “I just wanted to see how you were doing. It’s not like I heard from you or _could_ hear from you during the entire winter.”

Louis rested his chin on one of the palms of his hands, staying quiet as he looked at Harry in a way that Harry couldn't quite put his finger on. To think that Louis used to look at him with such fondness and admiration was laughable, but once upon a time, he did, and Harry looked at him the same. Actually, Harry still did, even without knowing it, but his eyes were laced with regret and apologies with it. Maybe Louis was looking at him the same, but had other emotions accompanied with it that Harry simply wasn’t able to place right now.

“I’m good.” Louis spoke, his voice soft and a tiny smile forming, but his eyes and face still held that twinge of soft bittersweetness, as if he were nostalgic. “Abby’s got five kittens. They’re around six months old now.” Harry’s eyes widened with excitement. “Yeah. I gave one to Luke—he’s this guy here that hosts with me sometimes—and one to Eleanor. She moved back here a month ago, too, so that’s nice.” Louis shrugged with one shoulder, dropping his forearm to rest on the table beside his other. “I don’t know. It’s okay for now. And I’m going to school again in a few months, too.”

Harry was… he was happy. He was genuinely so very happy to hear Louis was doing good and that he had some kittens and some friends with him. The way he looked and spoke as if he just woke up in the early morning with a bright sun was so sweet, too, just adding to the sincerity. Louis seemed content, but was he just _existing_ or was he _happy_? That was the real question. He hoped he was as happy as he seemed. “I’m glad, Lou. Louis.” He corrected himself quickly, thinking maybe he shouldn’t call him ‘Lou’. Maybe Louis wouldn’t like it. “Sorry.”

Louis smiled sleepily. “You’re fine.” He raised his eyebrows a little pointed a finger to him. "Cut your hair a little?" 

Harry smiled, nodding. "I did." It was only a little. Where once his hair had ended up being some inches past his shoulders, now they sat maybe half an inch past them. "Have to do that every now and again. You grew yours out a little. And—and I don't know what you did with it, but..." Harry swallowed before offering a smile. 

"Styled it a little so it's not in my face for work and I look kind of... nice. Yeah, I need to get it cut." Louis laughed softly before looking out the window on his right, sighing out slowly and shakily. Harry didn't say anything for a little. It was a few minutes until someone came up to their table. Louis looked up and beamed brightly at a woman. “Hey!” 

“Taking your break?” She asked, setting a basket of bread and butter on the table along with two glasses of water. Louis nodded. “Good. Should I just get you your usual thing?”

“Please and thank you… and…” Louis nodded up at Harry. Harry froze, looking up at the woman. He’d forgotten to actually look at the sides. The bunches of seafood listed before he got to that part had gotten him a little sick. Louis looked like he was trying to fight a smile that was made just for Harry before he spoke and looked back up at the woman. “I think he’s still thinking about his order. First time here, after all.”

“Sure, sure! Don’t worry about it.”

“Can you get him tea, actually? I think he’d like it.” Harry smiled down at the menu uncontrollably. “With milk? Actually, for me, too, if you don’t mind, love.” His head snapped up at that. Harry had never heard Louis say that word before, but it sounded so lovely coming out of his mouth, even if it was platonic and not at all directed to him. It was the way his voice was, too, that had Harry replaying it in his head. He probably should chill out, though. Thank Poseidon Louis couldn’t read his mind.

“Coming right up!” The woman said before rushing off.

“So, how are _you_?” Louis asked when he looked back at Harry. “Busy, I expect?” He reached for the salt shaker and handed it over to him. Harry blinked down at it questioningly. “For your water, Harry.”

_Oh_. Right. Harry let out a laugh as he sprinkled salt into his water before taking a sip. Louis had asked how he was, though. He… well, he was fine, too. He wasn’t upset. Everything was good. He really couldn’t complain, and yet, was he exactly _happy_ himself? Not really. “I… have a queen.” He didn’t miss the way Louis’ jaw clenched and his eyes glanced down for a split second. “The siren. She… she… is actually really great.” Harry confessed. “We’ve been sort of… melding our culture with siren culture. It’s a bit difficult because, like, they’re sort of a violent type. So what we adopt is really sort of selective. Erm… I don’t know. I’ve been ruling, being active in my Council, listening to some hardships that a lot of the people have and I do my best to fix them…” Louis smiled at that. It was real, Harry could tell, because his eyes crinkled at the sides, like he was proud of him. “It’s good, it’s all okay.”

“That’s good.” Louis’ voice was so soft and high when he spoke to him every time he did and Harry couldn't help noticing it, couldn't help being so quietly amazed by it. It was a contrast to how he was with other people—louder and sounding more _practiced_ , he supposed—and Harry sort of liked that. He also knew he shouldn’t. “I’m really happy your er… your reign is going well.”

“Quite swimmingly, really, if I do say so myself.”

It was amazing. They both laughed at the same time like it was the funniest pun they’ve ever heard. Louis completely collapsed with all gentle composure to laugh loud, his hand flying to his mouth and his head thrown back. Harry literally burst out laughing himself, his eyes squeezing shut and his dimples on display before he covered his own mouth with both hands. It was the most heartwarming, light feeling in the world because Harry never would have believed he’d be laughing with Louis ever again.

It’s funny because it really wasn’t that funny to begin with. It was still nice to know they could laugh. Any left over tension—if there was any—seemed to ease away after that, even after their laughter died out and they calmed down. Louis shook his head at him and looked away from him. Harry did, too, just in time before he noticed that Louis was looking away to hide a still-very-visible fond smile, only to hide a fond smile of his own.

Was he always going to feel like this about Louis no matter _what_? Could they not see each other for years until they did and would Harry still fight away adoring smiles so Louis wouldn’t notice? Would the butterflies in his stomach never cease their fluttering just by looking at the cut of his jaw, the crinkles of his eyes, the cute button nose, the eyes that reminded him of the sea, the raspiest, unique voice he’d ever heard? Maybe not. Maybe Harry was doomed and had always been royally fucked since the moment he heard Louis sing, since the moment he first stole his little boats.

“Oh, happy late birthday.” Harry said. Louis looked taken aback. Did he think Harry wouldn’t remember?

“Erm—thanks. Yeah, thank you.” Louis smiled. “Happy late birthday to yourself, too.”

“How’d you spend your birthday?”

Louis sighed with a wider smile. “It was really eventful, actually. I didn’t mean for it to be eventful, but it was. My family came over, we had food and they gave me some gifts. And then my cat decides to steal my thunder and give birth in my room.” The kittens were born on Louis’ birthday?! Harry’s eyes widened. “I knew she'd give birth sort of soon but on my  _birthday_? What an attention seeker." Louis was joking. Harry could tell, and yet he found himself giggling. "And me mum," Harry was so endeared by Louis saying 'me' instead of 'my' as he spoke a little quicker, getting more excited. "she was like, y’know she was like ‘Do this, do that, make sure they don't get anywhere they could die in, make sure Abby always has food, look after them every second of your life!' and all that stuff, being the vet she is.” Harry laughed, only able to imagine that entire scenario, but he could definitely understand a mother lecturing him about anything and everything. Louis made a sound and reached in his pocket before pulling his phone out and handing it to Harry. “I can’t stop taking photos and videos of them.” He said, and Harry carefully handled the phone as he swiped his thumb across the screen to flip through all of the cat—and photos that included Louis on his own, which were gorgeous, or Louis and friends—photos and he came across a video. “Tap the triangle in the middle.”

The moment Harry did, the cats started to move on the screen and sound came out from the speakers. _Right_ , this was a video. He remembered now. He stared down at the screen and smiled at the tiny cats in the kitchen. They were positively merciless with their soft meows. Harry could hear Louis’ soft laugh from behind the camera as the kittens padded over to him with their paws pressed up to his legs. “Why’re they meowing so much?” Harry asked, finding it adorable and yet so very confusing. He laughed at one small kitten that clung onto Louis’ leg. Louis bent down and his hand appeared to carefully put the kitten down.

“They’re hungry. Can you believe it?”

When Louis poured them food in some bowls, they all crowded around them and nipped and crunched happily. “They sound so dramatic.”

“I think they get it from their mum, honestly.” 

Harry handed Louis his phone back when the video ended. “They’re cute.”

“Aren’t they?” Louis grinned, looking at his phone for a bit before putting it away. “How are Jackie and Evan?” He asked. “Do they even have a baby of their own?” 

“They’re fine! Yeah they’re good, too. They don’t, would you believe it? But I have a feeling they will in the future. After all, their dolphin friends keep nagging them during mating season. It’s an absolute mess, so much drama there.” Louis threw his head back and laughed. It was normal to even talk about the gossip between sea critters and merfolk in the sea. Of course, sea critters didn’t act the same as they did when humans were around, so he supposed that was why it was so funny to Louis. “They really are something. Particularly dolphins.” Louis laughed again. “Why do you think Jackie and Evan deliver my mail? It’s all to know what’s happening with everyone. They gossip so much.”

“I can see that, actually. I don’t know how, but I can. When you put it like that… makes perfect sense.” Louis grinned. They both laughed warmly and their waitress came over again, setting their tea down and asking if they decided on what to order. Harry definitely had to pick now. He settled on something called ‘chips’ when Louis suggested them. “They’re the safest bet to get in a restaurant you’ve never been in, anyway.” And Louis looked unsure of himself so he said he’d get the very same thing instead of his usual.

“What are chips?” Harry whispered when as the waitress left and took their menus.

Louis drummed his fingers on the table and looked up at the ceiling in thought. “Erm…” He sighed, biting his lip and shrugging. “They’re potato.” Harry blinked. “Exactly, so, potatoes are… a vegetable. Vegetables, they, er… they grow them on the land. They’re brown and sort of rounded. Chips are made by peeling the potato and cutting them into thinner, rectangular pieces. And then… you fry them over the stove or a fryer.”

Harry pressed his lips together and shook his head a little. “It’s going right over my head, Lou.” Everything Louis had just said sounded entirely made up.

Louis gave him an apologetic, sympathetic look. “I know, I’m sorry. You’ll just have to try them, then.”

The chips were… life altering. Harry had underestimated them when their waitress set the plates on the table. They were yellow and had tiny, tiny, tiny green and tiny, tiny, tiny black things on them. Before anything, Harry drenched his chips with salt, which had Louis staring at him in disbelief. “These look weird.” Harry told him.

“Says the guy that just drowned them in salt. Give.” Louis told him, and Harry handed him the salt. Louis sprinkled a very small amount over them and Harry honestly didn’t understand what the point was in having salt in the human world if they weren’t going to make the most out of it. “You’re gonna love them anyway. There’s almost not a person in the world who hates chips.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Ice-cream is one thing, but I don’t know.” He leaned in to sniff the plate and scrunched his nose, missing when Louis pressed his palm to his forehead at Harry's curious mannerisms. He didn’t know what the smell was that entered his nose, didn’t know when they would keep from being hot. “Do they ever cool off?”

“You don’t want to wait too long because if they’re cool, it’s gross.” Louis laughed.

So, Harry took the opportunity to try one, dipping it into the ketchup and everything. “This is probably going to taste like lamprey sli—“ The shift in expression was unmistakable. From doubt to awe, Harry’s eyes widened when he bit down into the chip, a moan ever so lightly just sounding from the back of his throat as he stared at the thing. It was _fluffy_ on the inside! They were salted and seasoned with a bit of parsley sprinkled over them, with ketchup to dip in to top it all off, and Harry fell in love with the food. Louis looked so amused that he waited on eating his own as Harry stuffed as many as he could into his mouth as if he would die if he didn’t.

“So they’re disgusting, huh?”

Harry closed his eyes as he chewed and smiled, savoring the taste so much. “Oh no.” he said as he swallowed. “This is the best thing next to your sea salt ice cream.”

His eyes caught on something on a wall across from them. It was a piece of paper taped to it that said _THE FIRST WAVE —_   _JUNE 24. THE ANNUAL START-OF-SUMMER KICKOFF IS BACK! COME FOR A NIGHT OF FUN WITH MUSIC, DANCING, FOOD AND DRINKS, AND A BONFIRE AT THE BEACH TONIGHT AT 8 TO MIDNIGHT!_

“What’s that?” Harry asked, nodding up to the flyer. 

Louis looked in the direction he was gesturing and sighed. “Remember, erm… remember the last time we saw each other?” How could Harry forget? It was a night that ruined everything they’d built—and yet, sitting here with Louis, it was as if Louis just didn’t care enough to be angry anymore. Harry nodded tightly. “That was the _last_ wave. It’s the start and end of summer parties the beach holds. So they’re doing that tonight.”

“Oh. Will you be going?”

Louis nodded “I am.”

Something happened that Harry noted so loudly in his mind but remained calm over on the outside. They both reached for their tea mugs and sipped at the very same time before setting them down at the very same time, too. That was the weirdest occurrence between them yet. “You should sing.”

Louis’ nose scrunched as he shook his head. “No, I’m definitely not going to do that.”

“It’d be the perfect way for everyone’s start of summer, to hear you sing.” Harry wished he hadn’t said it, but it was done and out there. Louis’ eyes softened so quickly and he licked his top lip before pressing them into a thin line. He should go. He should _really_ just go. Harry could compliment on a million things about Louis right now, but he knew he really just shouldn’t. This one had just come out without him even being able to stop it, and he hated it because he didn’t want to make it harder on himself… or Louis, if it was at all hard on him. 

“Will you come?” Louis asked, his voice hushed. Harry’s heart quickened its pace as it beat rhythmically. “I mean. I don’t know if you will or not, I’m just wondering if you’re thinking about wanting to go, but then again you’ve got, y’know, the kingdom and all so maybe you might not—“

“Do you want me to come?”

It was a question that was so simple and yet it was followed by minutes of silence and looking into each other’s eyes. Harry didn’t know himself. He wasn’t particularly thinking he was going to go, but if Louis wanted him to, then he wouldn’t be opposed to trying to do so. He wondered what Louis was thinking, too. He wanted Louis to yell at him again for doing what he did because Harry couldn’t believe they were talking and laughing like things were _fine_ , even if there were these very tiny moments of silence and uncertainty. Those were the real things, those were the times Harry could see that Louis was trying to push something away as to not ruin this small reunion.

Louis swallowed and he exhaled slowly. “I… I want you to… to do whatever it is that you want to do.” He smiled then, and Harry didn’t know if it was a real smile or not. Something made it seem like it wasn't and something else made it seem genuine. “But… of course… be considerate of what you have to do and of other’s feelings when you ponder on that.” There it was. Harry bit his lip and looked down from him for only a moment. Their waitress came back and asked if there would be dessert. “Do you want anything else?” Louis asked, and Harry shook his head. 

The waitress had something rectangular, velvet, and black in her hands that she handed to Louis. Louis opened it up and Harry stretched his neck forward to see what that was. A thin piece of paper stuck out of it and there was a pen inside, too. “What’s that?”

“A cheque, Harry.” Louis laughed. “Tells me how much I’ve got to pay.” Harry felt bad again. Louis pulled out some of that paper money from his pocket and set it down, taking the velvet folder and getting to his feet. “I’ve got to get back to work, unfortunately, so… I don’t know what _you’ll_ do. Maybe you could… could go home.” Harry stood up himself and followed closely behind as Louis walked around the restaurant. “Hey.” He said when they came across the waitress. Louis gave her a smile.

“Amazing customer service,” Harry told her appreciatively, his eyes bright. “You’re very polite.” The woman seemed very shocked at this compliment but thanked him right back. Louis looked behind him to look at Harry and smiled so brightly. “That was okay to say, right?”

“‘Course it was.” Louis said, stopping right at the podium. “People don’t usually compliment people like that though, even though they should. It was nice of you, I promise.” Harry beamed and stood in front of the podium. Louis sighed softly. “Erm… so, lunch was nice. Liked lunch with you.” Harry had to keep himself from smiling too much. “It’s good to see you, Haz—Harry.” Harry swallowed, feeling his heart swell at the nickname. “Sorry.”

“You’re fine.” Louis smiled at that. Harry looked at him seriously, calmly. It was bittersweet to see Louis. They were bittersweet. Their interaction could’ve been a nightmare, but it went better than Harry would’ve ever hoped. “Have fun tonight, Louis.”

Louis nodded. “Yeah. I’ll try.” Harry wanted to run around the podium and hug him. He missed holding him in a warm embrace, softly touching him with the brush of a finger, or even with their fingers entwined together. He really did. “May your reign continue to be as smooth as it has been so far.”

“Thank you.” Harry took in a deep breath before turning to walk out of the restaurant, his insides burning with so many emotions that it was almost too much to bear. He looked behind him as he left, looking up at the sign and feeling so _unsure,_ feeling he didn’t _deserve_ such a nice lunch with Louis. He didn’t understand it, but he supposed it was all done and he probably wouldn’t see Louis again for a long time, if ever. He should’ve apologized again, maybe, but also maybe he shouldn’t have because if he did, it might’ve been overkill for something that just happened months ago. Louis did seem good. Maybe he was good and Harry ruined it a little. Maybe he should’ve have come. 

He remembered something he forgot.

Harry walked back inside the restaurant, seeing Louis gone, so he waited again until he returned. When Louis returned, his eyes settled on Harry quickly and he furrowed his eyebrows at him with confusion before holding up a finger for him to wait. Right, right, right. Louis was working and Harry shouldn’t disrupt him at work. Harry knew that. He motioned with his hands and hopefully his eyes that he would wait and Louis shrugged before smiling over at a group of people waiting to be seated.

He stayed there for two hours. People were continuously coming in and out. Louis’ friend, Luke, ended up helping him at the exact same time about an hour ago. The sun was lowering and Harry wondered if the party was soon. He still didn’t know how humans told time with their _numbers_ instead of just saying morning, afternoon, evening, nighttime, dusk or dawn. It seemed about the very beginnings of evening in Harry’s opinion.

Louis entirely disappeared for about ten minutes before he came back out to the front. Some girl replaced him and she and Luke bustled busily as they seated people and cleaned tables. Louis strode over to Harry and motioned for him to get up. Harry did so, nearly bouncing on his feet as he did. “I don’t know why you stayed so long, Harry. Your dedication is… _astonishing_.” He whispered. Was that bad? “I really hope you’ve got nothing to do in the water.” He said, still speaking quietly as they headed out of the restaurant. 

“Well, Liam wanted to know how… how Zayn was. If he…” they walked along the rows of shops and restaurants together. “used up his wish.”

“You stayed sitting there in the waiting area for two hours to ask me that question?” Louis asked, his eyebrows creasing as he looked over at Harry. Well, when he said it like _that_ it sounded ridiculous of him. “He hasn’t. He’s doing good. He’s been really important in my life lately. He and Eleanor make sure I don’t lose my shit. He’s good. Like I said, he hasn't used the wish. i just said that, but. I’m redundant, I guess. He’s really saving it but I know whatever he ends up wishing for will be something pretty cool.”

“Okay. I’ll tell Liam. Are you going home now?” 

Louis nodded. “I look too uniformed up for a beach party, don’t you think?” Harry wouldn’t know, so he looked Louis up and down and shrugged. He personally didn’t see any reason why Louis couldn’t attend looking the way he did right now. Louis grinned. “Shall I walk you back to the beach?”

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to.” Harry really didn’t want Louis to feel like he was obligated because Harry was _literally_ a 'fish out of water'. Sometimes he wasn’t sure—like now—because it seemed like he might be inconvenient to Louis one second and the next, Louis’ laughing or smiling instead. 

“Harry, please. I don’t…” Louis sighed, looking like he was trying to choose his next words carefully. “I don’t _mind_. I wouldn’t have offered if I did. I wouldn’t have basically taken my break to have lunch with you if I thought it was a nuisance. I wouldn’t have communicated with you if I was still…” he paused, pressing his lips together. “actively upset? Is that a thing? I don’t know. Come along here, let’s cross.” He said, looking both directions before crossing the street. Harry was hurrying after him as they weaved through the carpark and headed down the stairs along the wall and walked on the sand slowly. Harry quickly took a detour for a moment to find Carl and hand him the money left back from the shirt before returning to Louis.

He supposed that was good, that Louis wasn’t _actively_ upset—whatever that meant, but he was reminded of a volcano that was once active and erupted but was now dormant and calm. Harry sighed in relief and Louis gave him a sad smile. “I mean I think… you should bite my head off a little more, like, I think I still deserve that but…” Harry shrugged. “A part of me’s sort of relieved you’re not actively upset at the same time.”

Louis nodded gently. “I understand that. And I could still yell at you, honestly, if I _really_ wanted to, Harry.” They made their way towards the familiar rocky pathway, hopping up onto it and walking down along it until Louis turned to sit down in front of him. Harry didn’t do that. He dove right into the water, his clothes disappearing and his iridescent tail replacing his legs. He came up to the surface and rested his hands up against the edges of the rocks. When he did, Louis turned to sit facing him, and Harry was so reminded of when they had first met because they were exactly like this.

“But you don’t want to?” Harry asked. “Yell at me, I mean.”

Louis shook his head, his expression softening again. “No. I… I don’t… forgive you, really, for not telling me all of that stuff. For building it up the way you did and giving me all that hope only to crush it.” Harry’s heart shattered into a million pieces. He did that to Louis. He _really_ did that to him. It was more evident in his eyes, too. His voice seemed hesitant as he spoke, nervous, and it only emphasized his point. Harry really... he might've actually, truly, genuinely broken Louis' tender heart. “But I think you know that." Louis sniffed, his nose twitching ever so slightly and Harry was hopelessly endeared. "I think… I think I delivered that message kind of clear when you told me that. But…” He placed his hand over Harry’s wet one. “I was thinking… you know? I, er… I just…. I think, I mean, I think I understand why you did that. And…” he sighed, brushing his thumb over Harry’s knuckles. Louis’ touch was fire. Harry’s caudal fin stuck up out of the water and curled forward behind him, excitement building up in his stomach. “I think I would’ve done the same? Stupidly, of course, because it’s not the smartest thing to do. It only hurt us both, but…”

Harry bit his lip, their eyes boring into each other’s. He hadn’t noticed, but Louis’ upper body was leaning forward every few seconds and Harry didn’t move towards him, but lowered himself bit by bit into the water. It was slow and intense just to look at him and realize what those words meant, what everything could mean, and Harry was washed over with a feeling a lot like everything he felt months ago on that voyage on the boat. Harry leaned up ever so slightly, their faces close enough for Harry to feel Louis’ breath against his skin. “The whole week,” Harry began when he found his voice. “I actually thought we were the only people in the world and nothing else mattered.”

“S-sounds unhealthy.” Louis whispered. Harry eyes felt heavy with the need to close and close the space between them, but Louis was leaning in more and Harry lowered down in the water again, reaching up to press his palm up against Louis’ shoulder.

“You’ll fall into the water, Lou.” Harry told him. Louis blinked and leaned up, clearing his throat, and Harry pulled his hand back down. “You should still be mad at me.”

“I want to be.” Louis whispered. “A _lot_ actually. You hurt me a lot and I should be so infuriated with you and yet I feel like I shouldn’t be mad because we… we’ve never been face to face too much, y’know? Like, we were never properly together or anything so I feel like I shouldn’t be _mad_ about that. I just wish I never got my hopes ups because of you.”

Harry frowned. “You should still… still take chances, Lou. Louis. Lou.” Louis looked like he wanted to cry. “They’re not all for naught. A lot of them are actually… actually the best thing that’ll happen to you even if it’s… something that…” He swallowed thickly, trying to find the words. He remembered Louis always made it a thing to tell him in their letters that Harry had a way with words, but right now, he felt completely inadequate. “Erm… that… something that, like… is a temporary thing. Like an incredible, blissful, life changing thing that only is supposed to be there in your life for one moment. But, like, I say that because… you might never get to experience something or learn something or realize something if you don’t take this specific chance or opportunity in your life.” 

“Like it’s a one time offer even if it’s for a limited time?” Louis asked, his voice so gentle that it made Harry want to sob. He missed Louis looking at him like this, too. Maybe the way they looked at each other that spoke words through that look, where one look could say _everything_ … maybe it could only happen near or on the ocean. Maybe it couldn’t happen anywhere else and maybe it was very temporary and just not meant to be something permanent or more. “I’ll remember that.” The touches, too, because Louis still had his hand over his own. 

Harry did a double take when his eyes trailed up his arm. His uniform had sleeves thatended at the elbows, so his tattoos were visible. “Louis…” Harry whispered, pressing himself up against the rocky wall and carefully pulling Louis’ hand closer to him so he could see his arm better. He had to be imagining this, right? He was certainly making it up in his mind, right? Louis gasped and tried to tug his hand away, but Harry had both of his own over Louis’ because he couldn’t _believe_ what he saw.

That tattoo hadn’t been there before. He remembered the ones on his arms so well that Harry could probably draw them himself if he was given a paper and pen. His right hand slid up over Louis’ inner forearm and his fingers brushed over the compass tattoo that had the needle pointing to “Home”. Louis sighed and stopped trying to pull his arm away. Harry looked up at him, his heart back to hammering against his chest.

Louis carefully lifted his arm up ever so slightly to let his hand cradle Harry’s jaw, looking down at him. “It’s my newest one.”

“I can tell.” Harry wanted to lower his face a tiny bit so his lips could brush against Louis’ skin, but he knew that would be just too much. It ached enough, though, to just want to do that. “Poseidon, Louis, you should hate me.”

“I can’t.” Louis told him, shaking his head. “But I can’t forgive you, either. Remember that.” Harry would. He would take that, at least. He deserved that. “But I understand it. And you know what? I know.” Harry looked at him confusedly. “I know that… that we, erm… like each other. Liked, back then. That was very real for as little as it was. Every bit of it and I’m going to really… really treasure that because the most fucked up thing that happened….” Louis shook his head. “Wasn’t that I’d died for a little bit. It wasn’t the sea monsters. Wasn’t the fact that we just cruised around the world in about a week. The most fucked up thing was how you made me feel. But I don’t… mean that negatively. It was more like… I couldn’t _believe_ I could feel these things so strongly for someone who, sure, I’ve known for three months—at the time—and have spoken to face-to-face maybe one other time. It was fucked up that the compass pointed to you when I told it to point me to home. I still can’t… wrap my mind around that because honestly… honestly I don’t know why it would do that when this is our fate.”

Harry bit his lip, feeling chills that weren’t from the cool water run through his body. Maybe it was from Louis’ words or Louis’ fingers brushing along the bottom of his jaw and under his chin. Or everything right now. “Wow.” Harry whispered, his eyebrows furrowing sadly from the punch of emotion in his gut. “Yeah… yeah that’s pretty fucked up. Doesn’t seem fair, even. Especially since… I just don’t… think it’s good for us… _emotionally_ , I mean, to, like… see each other like this again. I don’t know about you but it makes me feel too nostalgic and simply a little bitter about everything. This was my fault today. Everything’s my fault.”

Louis hummed softly, pulling his hand away from Harry’s face and standing up. “I’ve got to go back to my flat, Harry.” 

“Okay.” Harry could literally throw himself onto Louis to kiss him and they could both fall onto the rocks or the sand or wherever they landed and he wouldn’t care if any human saw him at the moment. That’s how it made him feel. He could _throw_ himself. He didn’t want Louis to go. He didn’t want to have to leave, either, but they _had_ to because they both had things to do and the world actually didn’t stop for them… no matter how much that whole week months ago made it seem like it did.

Coming here was a mistake.

“Will you come later?” Louis asked.

The thing is that he wanted to and knew he shouldn’t because this was frankly torture. Harry did this to himself, anyway. To Louis. It really was a bit juvenile to feel this selfish when it came to Louis. He felt like he was someone with their first crush, except Louis was actually his first genuine _something_ —whatever they had been, of course. Harry was positive that whatever it was, it wasn’t going to go away and maybe he was just always going to be selfish when it came to Louis. Louis was always going to be an exception even when he couldn’t _be_ an exception. If Louis was a real exception, they could be together right now and it would be fine.

If Louis was a real exception, if Harry could have him as an exception and act upon this exception, then he wouldn’t have to tell Louis no.

“I won’t, Louis.” Harry told him. Louis’ eyebrows quirked sadly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. It is what it is. We’re better off this way. Even if I was thinking, of course, that I might actually need you in my life in some way, but... yeah, you know... maybe it would be too much, so.” Louis said before waving at him. Harry's heart sank into the abyss at his last words. Louis wanted him around even if it wasn't in the way they preferred it. Harry agreed far too much, and yet... and yet... they needed each other in that way. It'd kill them to be friends. “Bye, Harry.”

Harry wiggled his fingers up at him and didn’t say bye. He didn’t want to say bye. Instead, he turned and sunk into the water before swimming away deeper into the ocean. In the ocean, his mask was on as he swam and passed by fish and merfolk again, saying his hellos when they greeted him and listening to someone suggest about helping a few more coral pieces to grow as homes. Harry would have to get on that right away and speed up their growth. He was told about a fish who had no home because their home was destroyed and a barracuda ate all of their eggs. He was told about this problem and that problem and Harry wondered why they hadn’t gone to the palace to speak to the Hand like they should’ve.

Still, Harry was courteous and tried to remember everything he was told. The ones that stuck out in his head were diminished species populations in some parts of the ocean and an oil spill hurting many sea critters and _that_ was something he had to get on right away.

Harry’s mind was already screwed correctly where it should be. He entered the palace once more and hurried to gather the Council together to propose all of these problems he’d heard about. Simon was particularly annoyed today and Harry learned no commoners had come to speak to the Hand about what was happening in their lives that needed fixing. That was the least of their problems. He sent a crew of his men off to the part of the sea with the oil spill with healing creatures accompanying them. They would have to be evacuated from the area as fast as they could and be wary of humans around there, too.

Aeron had been nowhere to be found until a couple of hours later. She suggested Harry take another day off in a week. How could he say no to something like that? He promised he would _if_ it seemed like he was able. It pleased her to hear that, and when Simon swam by, she hurried after him. “We need to make sure that the king gets another personal day next week.” She told them, and they both chatted over it, leaving Harry toask the Master of Coin if there were still enough megalodon teeth around for currency and wondered about how much _the crown_ had.

Harry donated a bountiful amount to an orphanage and promised he would pay the orphanage a proper visit to say hello to them when he was able. He also sent the Master of Coin to hand those of poorer status some assistance with money since the crown frankly had too much of it.

When the golden sun above the water disappeared slightly, Harry thought he could possibly… _maybe…_ make it to the summer bash thing. Since it was still his personal day, he took the moment at around nine o’clock at night—not that Harry knew the time—and swam off again, thinking that he wasn’t going to make it obvious that he was there. He didn’t want anyone to see him… especially Louis.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

If there was one thing Harry missed, it was observing humans without worry. As he saw them dance, laugh, drink, and listen to music, he could understand exactly why he fell in love with the idea of full fledged humanity in the first place. A song came on that had all the humans dancing merrily and Harry was completely in _awe_. He listened to the words of the song, smiling at how the beat sounded and imagining what it would be like to dance freely to it—the way he and Louis danced, not as casually as it was in a mingled crowd—on legs and everything. _Here I go, scream my lungs out and try to get to you, you are my only one. I let go, there’s just no one who gets me like you do, you are my only, my only one._ Unfortunately, he knew this just wasn’t his world and this wasn’t his party to enjoy. So, Harry rested against the rocks, his tail in the water with a soft, peaceful glow of greens and blues. 

Harry tilted his head back and forth at the song, having had picked up most of the chorus to mutter it under his breath. He saw some girl laughing when a boy splashed her lightly, but it wasn’t in an unkind way. People sat around a fire with sticks stuck into the flames, roasting something large and white that looked sticky when they ate it, with drinks in their hands and everything. Others emerged from the ice-cream cart with popsicles and others came down from the boardwalk with circular things in their hands with many other things in the middle—burgers, not that Harry knew. Harry swished his tail under the water happily, feeling content and healthily envious of something that looked so much fun.

Healthy envy. That’s how Harry had gotten into this whole mess in the first place. Serves him right for being far too curious. 

His eyes were drawn to a familiar set of sea eyes, bright red and orange reflecting against them from the flames. Louis hadn’t been there a moment ago. He laughed and Harry could hear the laugh even if he was so far away. It was one of those sounds he could think of all the time and it would be so crystal clear. Zayn was there by his side and the dark haired girl he recognized from that night so many months ago. Maybe this was Eleanor. He gasped at the sandals she had on and had to bite his fist from wanting to scream into everything about how lovely they were.

Louis’ were… well, Harry would love Louis’ little boats always. He had changed from earlier, looking more casual and familiar than in the uniform from the restaurant. His hair wasn’t in that push up style again, but was tousled like Harry remembered it. His hair _had_ gotten long. Some of Louis’ other friends sprinted over to him and he could see Louis talking animatedly. Harry loved Louis’ expressions on his face, his personality so clearly etched on it. He was so unique and so fun… and Harry missed him so much. He propped his chin on his folded forearms and sighed longingly.

He was reminded of when he stayed at Louis’ for a night and they had eaten pizza and watched a cartoon film of _The Little Mermaid_. Harry couldn’t help drawing parallels in his mind between him and Ariel, especially right now. Louis might not be on an old pirate’s sort of ship, but he was partying and having fun with friends. Harry was watching him, watching all of them from afar, wishing he could join them. He didn’t know what was worse: knowing he _could_ physically join them but was keeping himself from doing so because emotions might run wild, or not being able to at all and stuck with a dream that was thought to never come true.

Harry was sure it was the first scenario, actually… which, incidentally, was the one he was currently in, anyway.

His eyes widened and he propped himself up a little on his forearms to lean up a bit better, staring when the music stopped so someone could play on the stage. He was so in love with the song the second the man started playing the guitar to go with it.  _My heart is sinking as I'm lifting up above the clouds away from you._ Harry smiled a little at the song, never not amazed that human music seemed to know just how he felt in his current situations. Harry couldn't help thinking this song was too similar to everything about him and Louis. He glanced over to see Louis looking over at the performer with his head swaying left and right to the tune. Maybe Louis could also think this song was a lot like their situation, too. To Harry, it was almost impossible not to.

This song, though... it sort of made Harry's heart much lighter.  _But someday, I will find my way back to where your name is written in the sand. 'Cause I remember every sunset, I remember every word you said. We were never gonna say goodbye, singing la da da da da. Tell me how to get back to, back to summer paradise and I'll be there in a heartbeat._ Harry bit his lip to keep the sad smile from forming on his face, only to realize it just didn't matter.  _And I'd give away a thousand days just to have another one with you. Where real life can wait, we're crashing like waves._  Some divine being had to be looking at Harry's life and planted all the human songs so deliberately to send his mind and heart skyrocketing from a burst of emotion. He looked at Louis and smiled when he saw Louis was smiling softly towards the performer, right when he sang,  _I remember when we first kissed and how I didn't wanna leave your lips and how I've never ever felt so high._

Harry liked this song a lot. He felt everything about it to the very core of his being. 

When the song ended, people clapped and whistled. Harry almost did, too—especially since he  _could_ whistle thanks to Louis. His eyes suddenly caught someone sprinting over to the stage when the performer stood up, said "Thank you" into the microphone and then stalked off the stage. Louis was running up to it and spoke to someone. His two best friends and the rest of them made their way out into the crowd to stand in it. Another couple of friends hurried up to meet him and they exchanged words with Louis that Harry would never be able to hear in his lifetime. Harry’s eyes followed as one friend grabbed a guitar and the other sat a rectangular thing with black and white keys. Louis bunched the sleeves of his thin sweater so his fingers could grab them, making them look like paws.

“We’ve got our one and only Louis Tomlinson singing tonight and by the song he’s decided to sing, I suggest everyone take it slow.” A man said into a mic before handing it to Louis. Louis smiled and looked like he thanked him before he placed the mic into the stand. 

Harry’s breath hitched and his tail splashed nervously behind him before curling underneath him. Was Louis going to perform? By the looks of the what was once active crowd, people were quieting and clinging close to one another. Harry bit his lip and licked his top lip excitedly. This would be something new and exciting. He missed Louis’ singing voice, after all. Louis’ eyes brightened as he waved his fingers at the crowd before he swallowed a bit of water from a bottle. 

Why did Louis lie earlier? Or… maybe he wasn’t but had changed his mind. That could’ve been a thing, right? Harry shouldn’t get that sort of hope up, thinking that he could’ve influenced Louis to change his mind. “Hello!” Louis shouted, his hands behind his back and his friends behind him and on his left. Harry was already smiling, happy he could enjoy this quietly. He sucked in a slow breath in through his nose and let it out from his mouth. “I hope you’re all having fun. If not, the drinks are… _over there_.” Some people laughed at that. Harry didn’t get it. “This is… a song by one of my very favorite bands called _Look After You_ by The Fray.”

It sounded slow and pretty. Harry smiled from where he was, and when Louis started to sing, Harry was filled with wings and was immediately floating up into the sky. Bubbles filled his stomach at the sweet, unique sound that was Louis’ voice. He didn’t sound at all nervous, either, like he’d done this sort of thing before. In fact, Harry could see the emotion in his features, like he was getting into it, feeling every single word to heart. 

The words… the words. Poseidon, Harry hadn’t felt this drawn to a human song since the Elton John and Sum 41 songs, with poetry in music that rang true for him. This… well, maybe this could apply to him, too, but maybe it applied to Louis more and that’s why it was so much to see Louis’ eyebrows quirk as he sang specific notes, close his eyes tightly, fluttering them open and looking like some ethereal being who was simply born to do this. His sweater paws reached for the mic and his shoulders rose as he took in a deep breath, but then he placed his hand on his tummy instead. Oh, but the _words_ , and they were coming out of Louis’ fucking mouth. 

Harry felt like crying. He let out a stuttered breath before closing his mouth, his lower lip sticking out in a pout that only threatened the muscles to frown before crying.

There was a point where Harry had forgotten his original promise to himself that he would stay right there. His eyes never left Louis when he pulled his tail up and waited to shift, his clothes from earlier reappearing. He walked slowly but surely, like Louis was a siren himself, simply drawing him in and Harry was irrevocably helpless to his call. On another note, Louis must’ve been a siren in his life once. “ _If ever there was a doubt, my love,_ _he_ _leans into me. This most assuredly counts, I said most assuredly_.” Beautiful, but truly _divine_ words.

Harry found himself in the front, looking up at Louis as he sang the chorus once more, looking around, and their eyes were suddenly meeting. Louis looked like he couldn’t _believe_ Harry was there, but Harry was, and they couldn’t stop looking at each other. Still, Louis didn’t miss a beat, but the next words he sang were so deliberate with Louis facing him, his voice sounding stronger and more passionate than they ever had. “ _To always have and never hold, you began to feel like home. What’s mine is yours to leave or take, what’s mine is yours to make your own_.” Harry could feel a tear slide down his right cheek from that, or maybe it was from the fact that Louis' strength and passion when singing seeped into Harry, who was already overwhelmed with the melodious sound and incredible beauty that was _Louis_. Maybe it was from both the lyrics _and_ Louis' stage presence. He’d never regretted hurting someone so much in his life, and he didn’t do it a lot to begin with, but _Louis_ , well… the pain was clear in those sea eyes, stormed with sadness that was meant only for him. 

Oh, this wasn’t fair. 

The crowd was clapping and shouting happily. Louis was back to being the sociable human he presented himself to be, smiling and waving lightly. Harry stared at him, wishing he could mend everything he’d broken with them. He wished he’d not come like he said he wouldn’t.

Harry found his strength to turn and walk off, keeping his back from the stage and staring straight ahead, absolutely refusing to look over his shoulder. Determined to do so as he made his way back to the rocky pathway, he didn’t know that Louis looked back to where Harry had been and rose his eyes to see his retreating back, looking completely crestfallen. He didn’t know that Louis looked down with one hand on the mic and smiled sadly, but in a way that said it was what it was and there was really nothing he could do about any of it—a bittersweet acceptance. Harry didn’t see that as he jumped into the water and kicked his fin as fast as he could to get as far away from the beach as possible.

He’d gone to his palace for a mere moment, making sure everything was okay before he left it to head into his secret grotto. Harry took the letters from Louis and read them over with a nostalgic smile.

The thing is… Harry knew that when the early sun rose, he would be back in his palace doing exactly what he should. Harry had become _so_ good like that, doing what he should when he had to, and when things were quietly expected of him and yet he wasn’t asked, he would do them. Even when he knew someone couldn’t give him anything in return, he would do his very best to make sure everything was fair and happy in the Atlantic Kingdom. That’s what it’s always been like, and he liked that, really. He really, really did. Everything was good, but he didn’t love his queen like that. He could be presented with anyone—and Harry meant _anyone_ , because, as he learned from Niall who had just about every bit of random bits of information up his tail, apparently there was a word for how Harry felt about being attracted to people—whether they be a woman, a man, someone in between, it didn’t matter. He could find them beautiful and learn to adore them, but they just wouldn’t be Louis. 

How could Louis make him feel so strong and yet so weak when it came to him? How was that  _possible?_ How was he ever going to get over someone so incredible? How could fate be so... so cruel?

Even with what the Nautical Mage said, Harry couldn't help thinking a question that made him wonder about everything.

_ How could the purple sunrise give me such false hope? _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis meets another creature of the sea. Harry visits an orphanage. Both of them get into trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I'm so sorry this is shorter than my usual again. I did try. Either way, thank you for looking again ! :D

**⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓**

**L**

**⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓**

Just because Louis had given a couple of kittens away didn’t mean he was free from being woken up at the worst times. As if Abby hadn’t been enough already. Always on the clock, at three in the morning, Jojo was up pouncing on his face, being very vocal and merciless in trying to get his attention. Louis sucked in a deep breath and let it out, still keeping his eyes shut, thinking maybe if he just didn’t move or breathe, Jojo would leave him be. He didn’t know why he always hoped for that because it was never the case, and he knew that, too. One could dream, right?

Jojo crawled up onto his face, his tiny paws pressing into his skin. Louis snorted and groaned when the kit decided to lay down right across his eyes. “Every night.” Louis whispered, pulling his arms out and grabbing the small cat, earning a small meow. He yawned and sat the kit on the bed before he got up and started walking out of his room. Immediately, Jojo bounded down and passed him, nearly making Louis trip. “Jesus fucking Christ, Jo.”

Coming up with Jojo’s name was difficult. Louis and Zayn didn’t call him anything for three weeks. It was only when Louis took on the task of babysitting Ernie, Doris, and the twins that they all ended up watching _Horton Hears a Who_. Zayn and Louis were chilling on opposite ends of the couch when Louis was suddenly oh so very inspired by the character Jojo.

“Patches!” Louis heard Zayn shout. Patches was the youngest of the three kittens they had. Zayn named her due to her calico colored patches of fur. “Fine, fine, I’m getting up, I’m up.”

This was just routine at this point. When Louis and Zayn entered the kitchen, hair mussed up and eyes half open, they found Poseidon had managed to climb up onto the counter and was sat in the sink where the faucet was open just enough for drops of water to fall. Poseidon was named as such because he was the only one of the three who strangely _loved_ water. It got worse whenever he heard the water fully running or either Louis or Zayn start the shower. He would always scurry over to them as if he were stepping on small eggshells so he could sit right under the water. Sometimes when in the sink—like right now—he would start licking at the faucet to get any water droplets that may fall onto his tongue.

Poseidon was the weirdest cat.

“Like clockwork.” Zayn muttered with a yawn, picking up Poseidon from the sink to set him down, a tiny string of meows falling from the kitten in protest. “I’m gonna move out. I’m losing sleep.”

Louis sleepily laughed as he grabbed three cans of kitten food and poured it into three bowls. “They’ve still got water. And honestly, you say this literally every night.”

“I know. I love them too much.” Zayn said with a sigh. He picked up Abby, who was much calmer than all the active kittens. “I could always take one. I’m growing fond of Patches. We’ve definitely got our own thing going on. She kneads on my chest to wake me up. It’s cute. Even if she _does_ wake me up at three in the fucking morning.”

With Abby purring contently in Zayn’s arms, Louis reached over to scratch behind her ears. “On the subject of moving out… I was… I’ve been looking at places, actually.” Louis said. Zayn’s eyebrows furrowed curiously. “I mean, honestly, the restaurant pays me pretty good. I’ve… I’ve probably got a goldmine sitting in my closet with the rare fossils and megalodon teeth Harry gave me. If I get money out of those that can be well enough for a place on my own, you can be free of my cat-loving self. I’m probably going to die alone with eighty of them, just you wait.”

Zayn rolled his eyes. “You won’t die alone with eighty cats.” Louis sighed. “And… and, hey, I don’t mind the cats. Like I said, I love Patches. But, if you want to move out… y’know, we moved in together so that I could help you be independent originally—and because we’re best friends, obviously!” Zayn said the last part quickly at the offended look that appeared on Louis’ face. “But if you’re well off, or will be, and you’re thinking you sort of wanna ditch me—”

“Oh, come on, Zayn.” Louis said, shaking his head with a bit of a smile. Zayn’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “Don’t say it like that.” Louis already felt bad for springing this out on him all of a sudden. He just felt it might be a good thing for him to do. No doubt Louis felt bad because of when he spiraled and went out and got with guys for about two months straight. Even if he was fine now and definitely not doing that anymore, that had happened pretty recently and just in case it does, he didn’t want to stress Zayn out over it in some way. He also felt bad about the cats, too, because Zayn didn’t exactly sign up for three kittens alongside Abby. On a more healthier note, Louis genuinely believed that he could maybe move out to head off on his own and be more of his own person. It would be a new thing in his life, too. Maybe it could just lighten more of his mood. As much better as he was, there was still a little bit of a grey cloud over his head that threatened to rain over him any day now again.

“Fine, I won’t. Seriously if you want to, then, I say go for it.” Zayn said, giving him a reassuring, supportive smile. Louis appreciated that. “‘Course, too, if or when you do move out, I’ll help you pack up and all that sort of thing. Oh. And another thing. I want Patches. That’s my only condition.”

With a laugh, Louis nodded. “Fine, okay. Deal.” He smiled brightly. “Oh, thanks, Zayn. Yeah, it’s just a thought for now, so. Thank you.” He sighed happily and looked down at the frankly loud kits munching on their food way too early in the day. He yawned greatly, stretching his arms out on either side of him before stalking out of the kitchen. Zayn had put Abby back down on the ground and Louis almost fell from her jumping past him. The funny thing about Princess Abigail—as she might as well be—was that she at some point in her life stopped using the litter box and only liked to go to the bathroom outside. So, Louis scooped her up in his arms and headed out the door. “Just gonna stick Abby outside!” He called back to Zayn.

“Alright!”

Harry had come to see him just a few days ago. Louis had never been more surprised by someone coming to see him in his life. He was impressed, too, because he managed to walk from the beach all the way to the restaurant just to find him on his own. Louis was astonished by the effort he put in just going to see him. If things were different, Louis might be enamored by it and relish in the fact that Harry would go to such lengths, but things weren’t exactly that simple with them. Some part of him wished Harry had never come to see him because whether he liked it or not, Harry’s reappearance woke up a lot of feelings he’d worked on keeping buried over the past some months.

Louis was positive there had never been a man—or a boy, for that matter, if he was to go through his younger years—that honestly made him feel that strongly for them. It was probably because Harry was the only one to wake him from his mundane life and because Harry was the most endearing person on the planet. Someone like Harry was difficult to get over, especially when he knew that as much as hurt could’ve been avoided, he knew it wasn’t Harry’s intention for it to get that bad. Keeping that in mind, Louis was more than capable of moving past any anger he had over the situation. It was just an ache now. What else could he do, right?

Why did Harry lie and say he wasn’t going to attend the stupid beach thing and then go anyway?

Maybe Harry missed him that much. Maybe it was a juvenile thing still with infatuation, Louis didn’t know, of course. He’d never asked Harry about any past relationships he might’ve had if he ever had them. He didn’t know everything about merfolk culture. He didn’t know a lot even if he learned more than any human should’ve. All Louis could do was assume from the facts. Maybe Harry cared as much as Louis did and acted upon it because he could but knew to have that restraint. Louis appreciated that. God, he almost fell right into Harry— _literally_.

Some very, very, very tiny voice in his head said, _maybe you’re both just in love_ , and that would make sense with how stupid they both were, but Louis _really_ couldn’t explore that option. He shook his head from it and set his cat down on the stoop steps of his flat. She bounded off immediately and Louis headed back inside. He headed through the living room, through the kitchen, towards his room and yawned again, his eyes itching to close for another some odd hours—or years for that matter—and he crawled back into his bed with a comfortable sigh.

Maybe he’d enjoy himself at the beach today. He missed working at the shack with Carl and everyone else, but the restaurant took a lot of his time. It was also good pay. Louis had actually thought of going through lifeguard training a few times, but he never actually had the chance before what with him working at what used to be his father’s restaurant that he left for the family.

Oh well. It was three-something in the A.M. and Louis was very tired. His eyes fluttered closed and he quickly drifted off to sleep again. It came to him fast and easy, thankfully, but unfortunately, so did the morning.

Jojo was meowing incessantly at his doorway before suddenly pouncing up on his face. Louis jumped away, sighing and picking up the kitten to set him down on the floor. “That's not nice.” He yawned, getting up and bitterly deciding he was going to have to shower and start his day now. It was just one of those things he knew he'd be better off doing rather than going back to sleep.

The eccentric kitten padded a few feet in front of him when Louis got to his feet. He looked behind him to make sure Louis was coming. The moment Louis laughed and stepped forward again, Jojo was bounding off, only to stop at the doorway. Again, he looked behind him and he meowed.

Man, he was impatient.

“I'm coming, pal, don't get yourself all huffy. I feed you all the time, I love you, I give you a roof over your house. I think you should trust me by now.” Louis groaned, walking forward and out of his room to follow Jojo into the kitchen.

Louis stood over Jojo’s bowls. They were full… Except… “You know you get your brattiness from your mum.” He said, picking up his water bowl and emptying it out into the sink… Where Poseidon sat in. Again.

See, there was one, and _only one_ piece of canned kitten food floating in the water. Both Abby and Jojo don't like the water if it looked dirty, as if it were unacceptable to them even if the water being at all dirty was _their_ fault. And Louis had just emptied water out into the sink that Poseidon was in. The cat chirped and pawed everywhere the water went before it slid down the drain. He looked up at Louis expectantly with large eyes before meowing softly as if to ask him to do it again.

He couldn't believe he was awake for this.

“Come here, you.” He said, grabbing the kitten and holding him in one arm. He then filled up the bowl and felt Poseidon trying to pounce out of his arm because of it. “You are such a weirdo.” Louis whispered with a smile before shutting the faucet off. He set the bowl down and Jojo padded over to it quickly just as he placed Poseidon back onto the ground. “You’re welcome.” Louis shot at him, obviously not receiving any form of a mewl as he lapped at the water in the bowl. He dragged his feet out of the kitchen to head outside to get Abby. The moment he opened the door, she hurried inside.

Cats, honestly.

Louis showered quickly when he got the chance. His hair might actually take up a lot of his time in the bathroom, if he was going to be honest. With a frown when he decided he looked fairly presentable, he headed over onto his bed and sat on it with his legs criss crossed. He took his phone and saw that it was only eight-thirty. Zayn wasn’t even awake yet. He yawned once more before getting up to head into his closet to retrieve Harry’s satchel full of fossils.

He had an option with these that when he was presented with them initially, he didn’t take it. It was mostly because he felt bad about the concept of actually selling them because Harry had given them to him—even if Harry had said, he was sure, that he had given them to Louis _to_ sell—and he was a little wary about doing so. Unfortunately, after researching just about everything he could with how to sell fossils and the like surrounding them, it all ended with the same possibility: someone would ask how and where he could’ve possibly gotten such rare fossils. Louis would never be able to answer that question and it would get messy.

Thankfully, Carl, his old boss from the shack that did the _most_ for the beach… wasn’t as clueless as he seemed about the world of merfolk.

•••  

> _Louis was looking around Carl’s flat after having had walked him home a few days after Harry… after Harry had told him the truth. Life continued on even if his heart was heavy and broken. Carl was a lover of all things nautical, which wasn’t unusual for the people who lived in this town. He had every type of sea collectibles throughout his flat. He even had some of those assembled mini ships in glass bottles. This was the home of a real sea lover._
> 
> _His eyes settled on a book on one of the shelves and he carefully took it. “Can I look at your books?” Louis called out._
> 
> _“If you’d like!” Carl answered from the kitchen._
> 
> _When Louis opened the book, it fell open into a marked page at the corner. In the crevices between pages sat a silvery scale. Louis carefully lowered himself to the ground, crossing his legs and propping the book up on his lap as he took the scale gingerly, setting it onto his right palm. It was metallic and shimmered even if Louis moved his hand a tiny bit left and right. He hummed softly and set the scale back onto the page, tapping it gently before his eyes lifted to read the title of the page. MERFOLK._
> 
> _Knitting his brows, Louis looked down at the scale again before cautiously flipping the page, scanning the words on it. Some of it wasn’t true, but he noticed that Carl had written on the margins of the pages, had drawn lines to a few words or sentences, circled and underlined others. Louis read those, finding those to be fact. There weren’t a lot of them, which made sense since humans didn’t officially know of their existence enough to write entire factual books about them, but his eyes settled on the ‘purple sunrise’ section, only to read on the sidelines that Carl had put in his messy scrawl: 23.07.1956_
> 
> _Carl’s footsteps could be heard entering the living room. “No sugar, right?” He asked. Louis didn’t answer. His mind was whirring with drawing conclusions on what this could all mean, and settled on the possibility that Carl had once come across a merperson in his lifetime. “Louis? What’ve you got there? I’ve got your tea, I’ll just set this on the coffee table here.”_
> 
> _“Where did you get this?” Louis asked quietly, shifting to turn from the shelf to face Carl, still sitting comfortably on the floor. He took the scale again and held it out for him to see. “This. Where did… where did you get this from?”_
> 
> _Carl laughed softly once he saw what Louis was talking about. “A fish.”_
> 
> _“What happened on July twenty-third, 1956?”_
> 
> _Carl pressed his thin, wrinkly lips together and looked down at his mug of tea. He shook his head a little. “Nothing, nothing. You don’t want your tea to get co—”_
> 
> _“Carl have you ever seen a merperson?”_
> 
> _Silence fell between them. Louis took the time to put the scale back into the book and shut it before turning to put it back on the shelf. The silence was enough, really. He smiled to himself as he stood up and walked over to sit on the couch with the old man, taking his own tea and sipping it carefully. “I have.” He confessed. Carl’s eyes widened and he blinked at Louis incredulously. Louis only smiled from the brim of his mug. “Saw the purple sunrise with him, too. It was nice.”_
> 
> _Carl cleared his throat, mumbling under his breath for a moment. “Well… I-I might’ve… once.” He nodded, looking like he was trying to keep a smile at bay. Louis’ eyebrows quirked at the old man with the gaunt face before he set his mug down onto the table. He crossed his legs at the ankles and raised his eyebrows expectantly. “Her name was Maybell. And she… well, she was…” Carl sighed dreamily, and it was a real sweet sight to see. Louis could relate, if he was being honest, even if the sigh was more nostalgic to a time when things were happier. Louis’ heart had completely shattered when thinking about Harry._
> 
> _“Remember I told you about my friend Harry who’s never had ice cream?” Louis asked. Carl gasped and Louis nodded with a sad smile._
> 
> _“But how? He was on legs? I guess his confusion over ice-cream should've been enough but he was on_  legs _._ ”
> 
> _“I made a wish. Which… I wonder... why didn’t you use up yours?” Louis nodded up towards the shelf. “That’s… that_ is _her scale, isn’t it?”_
> 
> _Carl looked deep in thought. Louis was sure that some part of him wasn’t exactly all here, but instead was reminiscing over the wonder that Maybell must’ve been. “I didn’t have use for a wish. So I kept it. Kept a part of her.” He looked back at Louis and beamed. “Sometimes I look at it again and then I’m reminded that… that she had been real and I really spent those days with her.” Louis bit his lip sadly. “You see, sometimes I would think about her sadly and just… think maybe I had dreamt her up. But that scale is always there.”_
> 
> _“What happened to her?”_
> 
> _“She died.” Carl shrugged. It had to have been so long ago that he could even shrug it off like that. “Fishing boat hit her. A friend’s back then. Poor thing, really. She was young.”_
> 
> _Louis stared at him, frowning. “I’m sorry to hear it.” He said, unable to keep his mind to wandering to a scenario in which Harry was dead. Even if he was upset at him at the moment, he would be lying to himself if he said he wouldn’t be devastated if Harry had died. Just seeing Harry get eaten by the whirlpool monster had sent him into tears and stress. Louis had genuinely thought Harry had died. “Really. I… am. That’s awful.”_
> 
> _“What can you do, right? Told my friend about her, though, even after I hated him for a few years. It wasn’t his fault. It’d just been an accident. Told him after he got a degree in paleontology and… he started working in a job that would put his knowledge to good use. So, yeah, he’s kept the secret about her ever since. He’s the only one who knows she existed until you.”_
> 
> _Louis nodded a little, comfort settling in to know that he just wasn’t the only one to meet someone like Harry. As saddening as Carl’s story was, that was life, and he seemed fine now, anyway. He’d bet everything that Carl had fallen in love with Maybell. By the look on his face, it seemed very likely. Louis wasn’t sure himself, but he did know that he unfortunately had liked Harry a lot. A lot. Strong feelings weren’t exactly fun when the other person was engaged to someone else._
> 
> _“She gave me gifts. Some fossils of old animals and shells from the deepest parts of the ocean. I sold them to my friend who… is a director at a museum. I still have money from that, actually, and it’s been decades since I did that.”_
> 
> _Louis’ eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really?” He asked. Carl nodded. “Harry did the same. Gave me some in a bag. A lot, actually. Had no idea what to do with it. Some of them are probably rare and it’s not like I’ve got a permit to collect fossils and stuff.” Louis frowned, tilting his head. “Didn’t your friend ask questions when you sold them to him?”_
> 
> _Carl pouted in thought before shaking his head. “No, no. He was the one who knew about Maybell, after all. He never told a soul. Good man, he is.” Well, he supposed it was good that that had at least ended up working out conveniently. Trusting others with that truth was difficult. Louis could guess that Harry would freak out if he knew anyone else but Louis and Zayn actually knew of the merfolk truly existing. At least it seemed that those that did had no intentions of exposing them to other humans who would probably do them no good or worse. “Oh, Louis, if you want, I can ring up my friend in the museum if you’d like to get some money from the fossils.”_
> 
> _Twisting his lips in thought, Louis pondered on the option. It was too good to waste. He could easily be set for a long time if he did sell them off with no one asking him how and where he had gotten them and everything else like that. As long as Harry and the merfolk stayed a secret, then he could definitely do that. On the other hand, Louis felt a bit bad for wanting to do just that. Even if Harry had said ‘sell these’, he still wasn’t sure if he wanted to. A part of him wanted to make sure they were well taken care of in his room, preserved nicely and everything… but how much money would he get if he sold them?_
> 
> _It was a lot to think about. Louis shook his head with an apologetic smile. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary. I’m… I’m not sure if I want to. Maybe I will in the future, but… I’m definitely not trying to sell them off immediately.”_
> 
> _Carl gave him an understanding smile. “The offer will stand if you ever decide you want to.”_

•••

“Hello? Louis! Ah, it says your name on the little screen there.” Carl’s voice quipped. Louis smiled to himself. He really was a big softie. His skeleton-like features were something to look past. When he smiled and looked at you like you were his son or daughter, it was genuinely the most heartwarming thing to see. “What can I do for you, son?”

“Does that offer still stand on selling a few rare fossils off to your museum director friend?” Louis asked. If it was possible, he could actually hear him smiling on the other line.

“Of course it is. Let’s meet up in two days. I'm free then if you are.”

Louis beamed. "I can be free."

**⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓**

That was a lot of commas and 0’s in one rectangular piece of paper.

“I’m not seeing double or… or quadruple or… whatever the highest thing is, right?” Zayn asked, smacking his own cheek lightly. Louis smiled at his reaction as they sat next to each other in the living room, kittens sleeping on their laps and one on Louis’ head, Abby resting up against the side of Zayn’s thigh. “Is this real—is that real? That’s a real number on a check to _you_ , Louis William Tomlinson?” Zayn’s shocked voice was as surprised as Louis felt. He’d honestly almost fainted when Carl’s friend handed him the check and asked _Is that a good amount_? Carl had caught him the moment he stumbled backwards and Louis babbled out a series of _Yes_ es. “Holy shit, Louis.”

“You’re literally rich, Zayn.” Louis scoffed. “Don’t you see this type of thing all the time no matter how humble you are? Mister ‘I have a yacht and a lambo.’”

“I drive a porsche.” Zayn mumbled.

Louis made a rather ridiculous, sarcastic sound with an equally skewed, expressive face. “ _Hoo haa, a porsche_ —c’mon Zayn.” He snickered, earning a light shove in the shoulder from him. “So, this took up like… Half of my entire day.”

“And it was all worth it.”

“Right. And guess what.” Zayn’s eyes lightened up as Louis just barely bounced in his seat, disrupting the kittens lying on him slightly and earning disgruntled chirps from them. Louis beamed, reaching to pet them both as an apology. “While I was driving him back to his flat, he asked me, y’know, what I was going to do with all of this.”

Zayn raised an eyebrow. “And?”

It was so unbelievable to Louis that things could be looking up for him. The appreciation he had for how things were turning out was evident on his features. “Carl said he has a bungalow that he owns. Said... he said this couple lives in it and is moving out of it. I—he, er… he said it’s… it’s on a more private part of the beach a way’s down, I don’t know. Said he’s also been wanting to sell it but… I mean, he’s told me about it and stuff. It can’t hurt to go see it and… I mean really I don’t know how all the house or flat buying or renting really goes.”

“That’s great, Louis! I mean I’ll miss dragging you out of your bed in the morning but I think Jojo’s had that covered lately, anyway.” They both laughed, digging into their lo mein Louis had gotten on the way back after dropping Carl off. “Anyway, I—look, I know you’re not as reckless as you were when Harry sort of broke _that_ news to you,” Louis sighed at the thought of it, at the thought of those fall months and how he really fell into some sort of minor self-destructive state. It wasn't pretty. “I think you’re still stuck, though. And you’re gonna be starting school soon, yeah?" Louis nodded with a grin. “Then you can do awesome things with that and maybe have a new place of your own, be happy, meet new people. People that won’t be engaged.”

Louis swallowed and looked up at the ceiling with a sad hum, slightly nodding. “Mmm, hmm. Yeah. All of that, yeah. Wow. It’s lovely to hear it all so laid out like that, Zayn. I sound genuinely pathetic.”

“Okay, no. Okay, go to the beach, mate. You said it’s your day off and I’m going to go say hi to my parents and family for a little bit. Then, I’ll even come join you after if I’ve got the time.” Zayn poked Louis’ arm before resting his chin on his shoulder. “Don’t be down today, happy times. You just got a lot of money, too. Huh? Huuhh? _Huuuhhh_ _?_ ” Louis couldn’t help smiling as Zayn poked at his belly. He yelped and smacked his hand away before grinning over at him, so thankful to have Zayn being how he was to make him smile and feel better.

Jojo on Louis’ lap perked his head up and looked at Zayn like he was the bane of his existence. He shifted so his tiny mitten paws were pulled under his face and he shut his eyes again. “Fine, fine.” Louis said, picking Poseidon up from his head and setting him down on the couch next to him before disrupting Jojo again to set him down, too. “I’ll do just that. All of that. And maybe we can ring up El and Luke and we can… I don’t know. Grab a drink, maybe actually even just go out to eat to somewhere like…” Louis sighed, shaking his head as thought. “McDonald’s, really. Even if we're eating lo mein right now, I expect in a few hours we'll be hungry again.”

“I’m up for that! Definitely, let’s do it.”

“Good, good.” Louis set his food on the table when he finished quickly and stood up too, pulling his tank down to hug around his body and walking off his room. He felt like he hadn't surfed in a while, so he put on his wetsuit and grabbed his longboard. He wasn't even sure if the waves were impressive today, but the weather was actually _really_ nice. Either way, he didn't mind going out and sitting on his board to do nothing. It wasn't like _he_ had to worry about sharks attacking him now that he knew that… Things certainly weren't what they seemed.

When he left the flat, Zayn called out to him as he left, surfboard hugged to his side with his bag slung over his shoulder. It was nice that he could _walk_ to the beach so easily so it wasn’t a hassle. He walked a lot of places, actually. Most times, he wondered why he even had a car. A lot of the time—unlike today when he drove Carl and himself to the museum and back—it was just sitting there collecting dust. That only meant that sometimes, his car didn’t start from not being used enough.

There might’ve been a time when Louis looked out at the ocean and immediately thought, _Wow, Harry actually might be here._ Of course, it mostly never was the case, so he stopped thinking that at all. Harry had said he was being a good, busy king, and Louis _definitely_ knew about the limited free time he had. After all, the first day onto the next day they had met was the only time they saw each other until three months had gone by. Being royal must be so, so, so time consuming.

Being _married_ must be, too. Right. He was married.

After Louis set up his bag on an empty space on the sand when he arrived, he sat down on a towel with his legs bent up, resting his arms over his knees and stared out studiously at the waves. The waves weren’t too small, but not too big, either, so with a huge _fuck it_ in his mind, he grabbed his board and headed out to the water, straddling it and paddling with his hands out further. The light coolness of the water lapped over him when the shallower waves made him rise up and down, and Louis kept a hand dipped into it just to feel the water against it. He could feel his legs growing used to the quickly fading cold temperature, and he stared down beneath him.

He wondered if anyone knew of him down there in the shallowest parts of the ocean. Was he recognizable? Did fish know him as the human who had once befriended their king? The water was too dark underneath him to properly see anything and the waves didn’t exactly help, so he gave up on finding any critter to amuse him… even if he was a little hopeful to at least see the familiar rubbery dolphin bodies of Jackie and Evan. Louis really missed them. A _lot._

This was where he would meet them weekly. He would swim out on his board and wait. If the waves were huge, he would surf until they stilled unnaturally and the dolphins would make their appearance just for him. One of them would always be carrying the message in the bottle in their mouth and Louis would take it. If it was the other way around, Louis tossed the bottle in the air and one of them would jump and _catch it_. It was always a miracle to him to know that the sea animals were so much more than what humans saw. He would always be grateful to have witnessed it.

Louis was suddenly greeted with a memory of such a deep, honey-like voice that were the words that set off an incredible journey. _With the tide._ Harry’s magic had moved that yacht throughout all five oceans. _The boat’s moving with the tide_. He didn’t know why he suddenly heard his voice like that, but he did, and it made him smile a little sadly.

“Oh,” Louis whispered, seeing a larger wave forming. He bit his lip, getting to his feet but crouching as it came closer, letting it move him up and down, and another wave formed, a tiny bit bigger than the other. He reached down to paddle along horizontally rather than straight forward before slowly standing up straighter. The wave rose up and up and up until it started to curl over him, and Louis was going, smiling to himself as the side of the board hit the back of the wave and he was just _going._ He could hear the wave falling from behind him, and he reached out to his left to stick his hand through the curtain, smiling proudly to himself.

Louis looked straight out in the tunnel-like cocoon of water he was gliding through, but did a double take. His breath hitched and he blinked rapidly. Had he just seen something? It seemed like he didn’t, so he looked forward again until everything went wrong. Somehow, he was crashing and falling, the wave from the back completely consuming him as it crashed into the water itself. The force and pressure were so great that Louis was under, still being pushed down, unable to properly control his body to swim back up.

Before he could even think of swimming to the surface for breath, he was grabbed from his middle and tugged upwards by something else. He looked down, seeing an arm looped around him and a long, dark, jagged tail underneath him that wasn’t at all familiar. When his head broke through the water, he gasped and kept afloat, pushing his hair out of his eyes as the arm was pulled away from him. He looked around frantically, trying to see who had come along until his eyes settled on his longboard. He started to swim over to it, but it was yanked down from the water so quickly that Louis paused where he was, arms waving gently on either side of him.

The board popped up in front of him so suddenly that it almost gave him a heart attack—or so he thought, a bit dramatically. Hands were up on the board as if it was holding it from jumping up again, keeping it there in front of him. “Er…” Louis said, setting his hands on the board, too. He leaned over a little to see who the hands belonged to underwater, but they rose up quickly and Louis almost had another heart attack. “Jesus Christ!” He hissed, running a hand down the length of his face.

She was beautiful. Her hair was black as night and her eyes were… probably bluer than his own. She was actually _stunning_. Her radiant smile suddenly lit up in front of him and she nodded down at the board, as if telling him it was okay for him to hop on. Louis did, sitting up on one side of the board, and only just noticed that the waves had become a bit gentler all of a sudden. The mermaid stared up at him with a look Louis couldn’t place, but she was smiling nonetheless. Louis opened his mouth to speak, but she beat him to it. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah.” Louis told her, nodding. “I would’ve been fine, anyway. You didn’t have to help me, but… thank you.” He gave her a smile to let her know he meant it.

The mermaid was quiet again and she rested her chin on her forearms over the board. “You’re not afraid of me?”

Louis shook his head with a small laugh. “No, actually. I’m… no.”

She hummed musically, and Louis suddenly smiled so softly, much more sincerely. “I’m supposing you’ll want to head out, then. I’ll even push you back to your land. Just—I’ll keep hidden.” Louis shrugged and nodded, and she started pushing the board gently back towards the shore. He looked behind him, seeing she was heading to the rocky pathway. _Smart_. Her voice drew his attention back at her. “I’m Aeron.” She told him. “And what might your name be, human?”

“Louis.” He replied gently, giving her a bit of a bigger smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh, it’s lovely to meet you, too. You’re a sweet one, you are. Handsome. Eyes like the ocean itself. Quite captivating.” She said, her eyes dancing along with her compliments. Louis softly laughed through his nose and tilted his head from side to side. “Oh, don’t be so modest. You look like a boy who would _know_ he were beautiful. I know I’m beautiful. Might as well happily accept it.”

“You’re _really_ flattering me.” Louis laughed. “Thank you, then. Yeah, that’s nice of you to say.”

Aeron tilted her head at him curiously. She licked her top lip and something shifted in her eyes for a moment that had flitted too quickly for Louis to read. “You don’t like girls, do you?” She asked. Louis blinked at her and knit his eyebrows. Her eyebrows raised expectantly, an amused smile playing on her lips. “Huh? Or am I wrong?”

Louis bit his lip before remembering he really should remember not to be surprised when it came to everything with these people, this world. “How’d you know?”

With a giddy giggle, Aeron’s eyes lit up excitedly. “You might as well say I’m a little used to men being drawn to me in seconds. And all you said was thank you. Usually, men would be tripping over their words by now. That doesn’t usually happen with _me_. Or my people, for that matter. I was shocked, but it makes perfect sense.”

Eyebrows furrowing, Louis looked at her thoughtfully. “What, are you… are you a siren?”

“Maaaybe.” She told him, laughing sneakily, yet cutely. Louis twisted his mouth at her and sighed, looking behind him again as his board reached the rocky pathway. Aeron lightly bumped the board against the rocks and Louis pulled himself up onto them. “Louis Tomlinson?” She asked, pulling herself up to sit on the board. Louis stared at her tail. It wasn’t at _all_ like Harry’s tail. It looked rough, jagged, and sharp. It didn’t look at all bright and shiny, either, and Aeron’s tail was a midnight blue. _Wait_. Had she just said his name? Before he could voice the question, she laughed. “You’re staring at my tail.”

Louis bit his lip and nodded. “Well, yeah.” He said.

“Is it because it’s not like Harry’s tail?”

Louis was quiet, his lips pressed into a thin line. Aeron twirled a drenched strand of hair through her fingers. The reality is that Louis didn’t know what to say right now. He wasn’t sure if saying yes would get Harry in trouble, like it was some sort of affirmation that he spoke to a human before. He also wasn’t sure if he should say anything at all because he definitely didn’t _know_ Aeron. He could probably trust Jackie and Evan more than this siren for all he knew. He hummed in thought before sitting cross legged on the rocks, looking at her as he tried to decide on just _what_ to say.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to think for too long.

“I’ve seen the two of you talking.” She said, smiling gently. “Mmhm, right here. I saw it.” Louis sighed slowly and nodded. “Oh, I’m not mad, Louis Tomlinson.” Aeron definitely looked like she was telling the truth, too. She shrugged and waved it off, a friendly and careless expression on her face. “ _Please_ , why would I care? I mean, he’s alive and that’s all that matters. Could you imagine if the king died because he talked to you?” She asked with another laugh. Louis chanced a smaller one of his own. “No, I’m his friend. New friend, actually. Ever since he’s been married to this siren and joined both species together into one kingdom, well, we just became friends.” She sighed happily. “Oh, he’s such a generous and selfless merman. I’m so happy the kingdom’s got someone like him to rule it. He’s quite quirky, too. He actually seems like a real person a lot of the time, not so uptight like I thought all royals were.” Aeron bounced lightly and happily on the board. “And you’re all he talks about!”

Louis searched her eyes for a long moment before deciding she was sincere. She was a friend of Harry’s and just happened upon seeing him once. She seemed very kind, too, and definitely had both a sultry and adorable trait all in one. Louis found himself smiling genuinely once more before nodding. “Yeah. Yeah… I know… Harry—erm, you said… he…” Louis let out a soft breath, his heart pounding. “He talks about me?”

Aeron nodded, eyes bright and amiable. “Of course. You must mean a great deal to him. I think everyone in the ocean knows who you are. The human that got away. He really does miss you.”

“Even if he’s married? He’s going to talk about me to everyone when he’s _married_? To _everyone?_ What do they think… that their king’s been friends with a human?”

Aeron shrugged. “I don’t think anyone cares. Call him brave but he’s reassured everyone a million times you would never expose us or bring harm to our ocean. And, of course, as king, people believe him. So do I.” Louis smiled sadly. Why hadn’t Harry said so? Well, maybe Harry didn’t want to admit he… _apparently_ couldn’t stop thinking or talking about him. That sounded like a possibility. Louis could relate, so he didn’t really hold judgment on that, except he only talked to Zayn and Carl about Harry since everyone else would think him mad. “If only you were a merman, right?”

It was a quiet, yet _huge_ desire of his to actually have that opportunity presented to him. Ever since Harry had him ride a dolphin, ever since he saw how gorgeous the ocean was underwater for himself, he’d greatly wished for that to be a possibility in some way, shape, or form. The idea of also being with Harry and being just like him in the ocean where it could be easier to even say hello to him had also been appealing. “I guess, yeah.” Louis said with a tiny frown. “But, hey, what can you do, right?”

“Wouldn’t you like that?” She asked him. “Wouldn’t you want to be able to be in the water all you wanted?” Louis’ expression softened and he found he could not for the life of him look away from her. “You could breathe underwater all you wanted. Have little gills of your own. Right here.” She said, reaching out to brush her fingers on the sides of his torso. Louis swallowed, only vaguely wondering why he couldn’t even answer. What were words anymore? Aeron pulled her hand back. “And… you could keep those ocean eyes open for as long as you wanted without them stinging. And… your skin wouldn’t wrinkle. And you could swim great distances without getting tired. And you could be with Harry.”

“Could I?” Louis asked, letting out a shaky breath, leaning forward, like it was some sort of secret. “Be with him? Could I?”

Aeron’s eyes were intense as she looked right at him. “What do you mean when you say that?”

Louis sucked in a deep breath and let it out raggedly. “Erm—er, wow.” He laughed nervously, but Aeron smiled, like it was funny. She leaned back a little with her arms crossed. _Harry, Harry, Harry._ Could he be with Harry? His mind was fuzzy, and even if he tried to think coherently, those deep green eyes of Harry’s were staring at him in his mind. Louis swallowed, trying to remember what she’d asked. “I… I… being with him, wow.” His eyebrows quirked a little, his voice soft, feeling like a kid with a crush telling all about it to some adult. “I’d… I don’t know. I’d hold him.” Louis nodded. “Yeah. Hold him. Kiss his left dimple.”

“His left dimple, wow.” Aeron whispered, her voice echoing and hypnotic in Louis’ head.

Louis could see Harry’s dimpled smile in his mind’s eye. He nodded, his own smile gentle and dreamy. “I… I would… oh, I…” he paused, pushing his legs off of the rocks to dangle over the edge. “I… would kiss him. On his lips—they’re so fucking pink and full, oh my god. So soft. Kiss him so much. I think he likes kissing.” His heart thudded madly against his chest. “He—I mean, I… I’d let him know… that... I care about him, I’d be there for him through thick and thin. Fight for him. Defend him. Make sure he was okay. Help him. Everything. I’d play games with him. I’d… I’d tell him how incredible he is. How endearing he is—he’s so endearing, did you know that? I wouldn’t be able to shut up about it. Kind of like now—why am I saying all of this?” Aeron giggled. “Oh!” Louis’ eyes lit up. “If I could be with him, I’d want to race. I’d want to experience everything in the ocean with him. I’d like to help him realize how lovely it is again because I think he’s forgotten how lovely his world is even if he loves it. Does that make sense? Who knows.”

“You must’ve been speaking to him for a while if you know all of that.”

Louis nodded. “I know almost everything. I know he controls the entire Atlantic. I know he speaks a lot of languages. I know he stays in the waters across of Uruguay when it’s winter here. I know he’s a good king. I know he has… a big heart. I know he loves fishes and stuff. Doesn’t want them hurt _ever_. I know he loves new and exciting things. I know he loves the purple sunrise with all his heart and… I do too, really. I know his father died from a horrible accident. I know how he dances. I know how he sings— _oh_ , how he can sing!” Louis sighed longingly, still unable to tear his gaze from Aeron, but he didn’t care. He was on a roll talking about Harry, like doing so was exactly what he was put on the earth to do. She seemed interested, anyway. “I know how he loves to run. I know he loves sea salt ice-cream. I know he has a sister named Gemma. I know he has a friend named Liam and another named Niall. I know he loves to take care of himself as much as he can. Seaweed and kelp on his tail and through his hair twice a day, he told me.”

“Did he now?”

“Told me you pay things with megalodon teeth. Oh, he loves barnacles. Loves to eat them. I know he has a bracelet… on his wrist… that he’ll keep forever because it binds his oath to… about the, erm, the…” he snapped his finger. “The journey thing we went on.”

Something flashed in Aeron’s eyes again, but Louis didn’t notice. He was remembering everything good about Harry and his heart was heavy with how he felt about him. “‘We’?”

“He asked me to go on the trip with him.” Louis whispered, unable to keep from smiling.

“What did you do on this trip?”

“Fought monsters. I mean… he fought monsters. I gave him the boat and he asked me to come with him so I did…” God, he felt drunk. This was the same feeling as being drunk. He couldn’t think straight and he was smiling like a lovesick fool—not that he knew he was, of course. “I taught him how to dance. Taught him about eating eggs. Told him about bunny rabbits. He saved me once. I died. Almost died. But that’s because I was the most… the biggest—the thing he most desired. The most. He had to save me. And I taught him some songs… and he learned one on his own.” Louis smiled in a way that was nostalgic and sweet. “And he sang it to me and I kissed him so hard, you had… have to understand. I had… honestly kept myself from doing so, even if we kissed before, but it’d been months and I didn’t think he liked me really, wasn’t sure, but…”

“You kissed him?”

“And he kissed me back. Again. And again. And I’d never felt so warm in my life—just kissing him, just kissing and it made me feel that high. Something as simple as that, can you believe it?”

“Kissing’s important to merfolk.”

“If I could be with him I’d kiss him so much his head would fall off.” Louis confessed gently. “But then maybe my heart would explode and that would be so messy.”

Aeron looked at him with envy and anger in her eyes, but Louis did not notice. His mind was genuinely entirely clouded with _Harry, Harry, Harry._ His heart was soaring and falling at the thought of him. He missed him so much, wanted to be at his side all the time, just wanted to support him in everything he wanted to do. Louis wanted Harry so very much he was sure he was dying over it and yet he couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was so full in thought that he didn’t even remember how strange it was that he was so taken by Harry right now when he had done such a good job in getting over him. He didn’t realize that something was terribly, terribly wrong with him right now.

Like the fact that every emotion he had for Harry, no matter how locked away or docile, was being exaggerated in his head to the point that he felt obsessed. Louis couldn’t think logically, either, and Aeron the siren was simply eating it all up.

“Would you like to be with him?”

“God, _yes_.” Louis whispered. “More than anything.” Aeron lowered herself into the water and Louis chased her. She beckoned him forward and he got onto his board. “I can be with him?”

“Of course little Louis.” Louis positively beamed at that. Aeron swiped a soft thumb over his cheek. “You will be a merman yourself, even.” His eyes widened with a question, excitement boiling in his chest. “You… will… be at his side. He doesn’t love his siren queen, you see. He could get it annulled if you were a merman, if you came into his royal life. It’d be done in an instant. And anyway… I’ve heard tell she doesn’t love him either.” Louis gasped. How could someone not adore Harry? Harry was everything. Harry might as well be god. Yeah, he was probably god. “I’ve even heard a rumor she wants to take over the kingdom on her own, put the Atlantic back into siren power _only_. Heard she’s a violent thing. A jealous thing. Will literally make sure nothing and no one stands in her way of her huge plan.”

“That’s awful. Does Harry know?”

“No, little Louis. He does not. He will, though. It’s only a matter of time he’ll know.” Louis sighed in relief. “See, she also doesn’t like threats, I hear. Harry being so close to the human world… well, that’s a threat. And I’ve heard that even if his siren queen has no love for him, she still wants to keep him. Thinks Harry should’ve been a siren with the way he looks. Could be incredible to bring about mersiren hybrids and everything. He’s too good to waste, but if his head is all full up on the surface, on the shore, then that’s a bit of a problem.”

While Aeron was telling him this, Louis had sunken down to lie on the board, head to foot, his eyes closing. He heard her, but it didn’t register. He remembered Harry’s smile and his sudden bursts of laughter, his small giggles, the way he ran his hand through his hair to shake and then gently touched the end ringlets. He remembered when they danced. Oh, he wished he could go back to that day. It was such a sweet day. He wished they could feel how they felt on that yacht, like there wasn’t anything in the world but them and time had stood still.

“I can take you to a place, little Louis.”

“Hmm?” Louis asked, feeling the water lapping around him.

“A place that has a special plant. It will turn you into a merman if you go forth and retrieve it. Of course, it’s only for humans. I can assure you it’ll be easy to get to. The plant will be in plain sight and all you’ll have to do is eat it and all of your dreams will come true. Harry will be yours. You’ll be with Harry. You’ll be _his_ king. He’ll be _yours_.”

Louis didn’t know what she was saying, but it sounded nice. He smiled dreamily, feeling incredible blind trust, and nodded. “Okay.”

“Aren’t you a compliant little thing? I’ll take you there. Hang on tight, little Louis.” Aeron said. Louis missed the hateful glare she gave him as she gently pulled at the board before shoving it out elsewhere. With a wave of her hand, the ocean moved so it took Louis away, and Aeron joined him at his side.

She listened to Louis babble on and on about Harry. Louis mentioned watching The Little Mermaid with him. He mentioned watching the purple sunrise with him. He mentioned learning about how he slept in a huge bivalve shell. He told her about the wish he had been granted and how he wished something perfect that would benefit them both. He told her about running on the sand some more and told her that Harry had lost his balance once and fell right on him. Louis told her it was the sweetest, gentlest kiss but had sparked everything inside him, set his insides on fire. He told her that he felt nothing but incredible patience when it came to him. He told her that Harry was very smart and could adapt to different situations so quickly and expertly that it blew his mind. He told her that Harry was adorable when shopping, like a kid in a candy store, and that made sense since Harry hadn’t ever shopped in a mall or market before.

Above all, Louis told Aeron about Harry and his shoes.

“When we met, he had tried to steal my shoes.” Louis voiced, staring up at the sky with his hands on his chest as the water pushed him along to another place. “Well, he had already stolen a few other pairs. Two. He said he’d always been fascinated with humans but the shoes did him in. Calls them little boats.” He softly laughed. “And when… when he tried to steal them for a third time, I caught him. We were both scared. He got mad at me because I used to fish.” Louis was shocked he could remember so many things about him and Harry, especially from that day. He knew he could remember that day and the one that followed because they met and it had been the best day of his life, but he found he hadn’t really thought of it that much lately. Now that he did, he was happy to know it replayed in his mind so perfectly.

“You used to _fish_?” Aeron asked, sounding disgusted.

“I didn’t like to, but I was in a situation that demanded it. He understood.” Louis said, sighing again. He pulled his arms back so he could rest them under his head comfortably. “After a while he did. Understand, I mean, eventually. He really loved my shoes. And I asked for them back. So he brought them back at nighttime but he was still… upset. He really didn’t like that I fished so I asked him if there was anything he could possibly want to make it somehow better. And he said he had always wanted to see the purple sunrise. So I got my bike… and I had him sit up on it and I took him through the beach and up the wall so that he could sit on the cliff and wait for sunrise to come.”

“And?”

“We talked all night. Except for a tiny bit I think... I think we fell asleep at one point but woke up just in time.” He said, his voice soft and sad. He missed that day more than anything. It almost made him cry. “I’d never felt so hopeful for something in my whole life. I felt happy. I can’t believe he said some of the things he said. I felt like I… I had met the person I needed most in my life at the time. It was going nowhere—my life, I mean. I was existing. Not living. And Harry comes along and… it was literally so life changing, I can’t even begin to explain it. And then the sunrise came up and he was so… amazed. It was actually a really beautiful thing to see. I wanted to kiss him right then and there. He looked so divine with all those morning colors reflecting against him, it was… a real sight to see. Harry’s actually _so_ handsome, so gorgeous. Inside and out. It’s overwhelming. And then I got him his own pair of shoes. A couple of green sandals.”

Aeron rolled her eyes. “That’s cool.”

“I know. And he kissed me...”

Louis wasn’t exactly sure when they arrived, but he knew it had been a couple of hours later. He’d fallen asleep on the board with dreams of Harry blooming at the surface of his mind, making him softly hum peacefully while he slept. When he woke up, he was freezing, but too groggy to do anything about it. The water lapping against him around the longboard he was laying on had made him get used to it, but the air around them was icy. He looked around and sat up, careful not to collapse into the water, and he held onto the sides of the board as he draped his legs over on both sides of it. He hissed at the cold and looked around.

“Hello. You’ve slept a while.” Aeron said, rising up from underwater at his side. “We’re here.” She nodded her head up straight forward. Louis directed his gaze over to a sea cave formed by rocks sitting atop of the ocean water. “This is the Blue Grotto. It’s in Capri.” Louis’ eyes widened. He was in the Mediterranean? He looked at her and she beamed. “It’s actually one of my favorite places. Even if a lot of humans _do_ come here nowadays to _tour_ it.” She reached up to pat Louis’ arm. “Kind of like how you’re here to tour it right now!”

“So this… plant is… it’s in the cave?” Louis asked with a raise of an eyebrow.

“You bet. You’re genuinely that close to Harry.” She said. Louis bit his lip and couldn’t keep from smiling. He _was_ , wasn’t he? “Just a little bit for you, little Louis. The plant? It’s a single flower. It’ll be icy white and equally blue in the center. It’ll be small with soft petals growing along the walls of the cave. Take it and eat it. And then you will be a merman. And _then_ … I can show you where Harry’s palace is.” She told him, giving him a flirty smile. Louis nodded and she gave the surfboard a gentle push. “Good luck finding it!”

“Thanks!” Louis called over his shoulder as he paddled with his hands into the cave itself.

Aeron wasn’t kidding when she said ‘Blue Grotto’. The water _was_ blue. It was _so_ blue. It also wasn’t actually dark inside. A lot of the light came from the outside and beautifully reflected in the water. He looked around at the walls as he slowly made his way deeper into the sea cave, admiring its natural beauty. His eyes trailed over every bit on the inside, trying to find a flower, but nothing showed up yet.

When he got into a circular area—which looked to be the actual grotto part—Louis was astounded at it, unable to believe he was in the middle of it all on his surfboard. He smiled, looking around, could practically see the ripples’ shadows glistening against his skin due to the light. It was genuinely one of the most gorgeous places he’d ever entered and was without a doubt one of the most peaceful, too. It was the type of place that should undoubtedly have the ability to grant wishes or where supernatural and fantastical things could occur.

Such as… Louis becoming a merman, for instance.

For a moment, Louis wanted to stay right here and do nothing but stare. It was so calm that he was sure it might be the most perfect place in the world. He sighed happily when he thought he had soaked up enough of the softness the grotto gave off and he looked around again, this time to look for the flower. Aeron had said white with a blue center… white and blue, white and blue… Just from that, he was sure it should stick out like a sore thumb.

The reality was that _nothing_ stuck out like a sore thumb. All around him were the rocky walls of the cave. There was nothing on the walls that drew his attention. It was just grey, brown, and bumpy. Louis paddled over to a part of the wall and set his palms up against it, looking up and down it even closer. He moved around the grotto doing the same, but there was nothing, let alone a white and blue flower. He sighed, twisting his mouth at how stumped he was.

He had to be missing it.

Before he could trail his eyes around the cave walls once more—even the ceiling had nothing, too—something happened. He gripped at the sides of the surfboard as the water right under it was disturbed. His eyes widened in fear as he first felt that the water directly under him had stopped moving entirely. In fact, something solid was steadily growing out from under his longboard, cold and pushing against his legs. Louis pulled them up onto his board and he sat down, hugging his knees to his chest as he peered down and all around him.

Out from under his board, the water was steadily freezing.

“Aeron!” Louis shouted. He placed a hand on the now frozen bottom and patted it, then pressed hard against it. It seemed thick. “The water froze! And I honestly don’t see a flower anywhere. Am I not looking right?” He waited quietly, but didn’t hear her answer him at all. Louis frowned, looking at the now icy floor and carefully got off of his board. The floor was sturdy, so he crawled over it towards the entrance of the cave. “There’s literally no flower, I don’t… think…”

His voice trailed off when he could see Aeron better. He was still, just on his hands and knees, looking at her calmly, yet in disbelief. She was holding a long scepter that Louis had only seen once. It was Harry’s scepter, but it had a gorgeous gem in the middle at the top. Still, Louis recognized it just because he had never seen anything like it in his life until Harry showed it to him, so he couldn’t miss it if he tried.

Aeron was holding it. She was there and holding it like she owned it. Why would she have it if she was Harry’s friend? Unless… unless…

It was at the same moment that Louis realized Aeron wasn’t exactly who she had said she was that she smiled cruelly at him. Whatever mind fogging thing in his head that had made him not able to really see sense and logic into things faded in an instant. He knew exactly who she was and he knew that she wasn’t at all happy with Louis’ existence. It was all too clear now. “What did you do to me?” Louis whispered, wondering just exactly had happened to fuck him up enough to trust so blindly. “What do you want? What… I didn’t... “ He sighed shakily, pressing his lips together into a tight line.

She didn’t answer him. Instead, she lifted the scepter up, pointing it at him, and Louis’ breath grew ragged with fear, eyes wide as he fell back onto his bum and scooted as far back as possible. What she did, though, didn’t exactly hurt him. Aeron aimed the scepter around the opening of the cave and thick, solid ice shot from the tip. It was like she was drawing ice all around the opening, circling it until it was covering up most of it.

“No!” Louis shouted, clumsily hurrying towards it, but when he got back to the opening, it was mostly completely sealed by ice aside from a tiny hole in the middle. “Stop, stop, I’ll die. I’m not even with Harry! I don’t know what your problem is!”

“I know you’ll die, little Louis.” She told him with a smile as if it were just simply something unfixable. “That’s kind of the point. I just want you dead faster than living on nothing will kill you, so just sit back, relax, and… wait for it to come to you.” She zapped the remaining hole so that the entire opening was covered by ice, joining with the floor that had formed underneath him. Louis slammed his fist against the icy wall and shouted for her to let him out.

Aeron and the world outside of the grotto were blurry from the thick ice, but he could see her diving into the water and disappearing. “Oh my god…” Louis whispered, unable to keep himself from panicking as he looked around. He moved as fast he could everywhere within the grotto, trying to find some opening she had to have missed. Even if it was underneath him, if he could swim into the water and come out from the other side of the cave. That would be better than nothing. “No… no…” Louis’ hands were frantic as he clapped his palms on the icy floor under him, hoping that some of it would just break off. “No.” He hurried to one of the darker, rockier parts of the cave walls and felt around for… for something that simply wasn’t there.

He was trapped.

Louis hurried over to the opening of the sea cave and punched at the icy wall with all of his might. His knuckles immediately started to ache as he continued to do so, feeling desperate and terrified because he was _stuck in a sea cave_. It wasn’t even like there was a possible opening up top that he could climb up to or anything. Every possible way out was sealed off. Louis was so fucked. He was going to die in here. This was the end of him and honestly… honestly, he couldn’t believe this happened to him.

He jammed his elbow into the thick ice and hissed at the pain. Louis was sure to receive bruises later from hitting it so much. Some part of him hoped he would be able to get out, but there was finally a logical part of him that knew there was no way.

Louis was lying on the floor of the grotto, staring up at the cave’s ceiling when he heard it. It was unmistakable and broke the eerie silence. _Water_. It was spilling slowly from somewhere. He sat up and crawled around until he found the source of the water. It looked almost as if there was an active leak coming from somewhere, except Louis had no idea where the water could possibly be coming from. All he knew was that it was seeping from the junction between the icy floor and the cave wall, right onto the floor, forming a large puddle.

It wasn’t ending.

He waited for it to stop filling up slowly and surely, like this was a large, large, large bathtub that had to be filled. There was no way to make it stop and no way to drain it, either. That’s what it was like. Louis sat up against a wall, staring blankly as the pool of water seeped throughout the bottom of the cave, wetting him just a tiny, tiny bit.

Oh, he _had_ to get out of here… _somehow_.

Louis crawled off over to the opening again and started slamming his fist and his body up against the thick wall of ice. His entire body was growing sore from trying so hard, the adrenaline of knowing he would be dead in a few hours from drowning once the water filled up the entire cave was horrifying and had his fight-or-flight reactions on high. He just… he _had_ to get out. Louis smiled to himself, feeling a bit hysterical as he breathed heavily and crawled through the water—that had gotten to rise at about an inch and a half high at this point—to grab his surfboard. He shoved it through the water until it bumped against the ice wall and grabbed it to hit the wall with the board.

It didn’t do anything. Not even a scratch.

Louis yelled in frustration and tossed the surfboard to the side carelessly, feeling like he was going to cry because he _really_ didn’t want to die. Certainly not by drowning. Not again. He pressed his forearms up against the icy wall and hit it again with as much force as he could. “C’mon… come… come on, please…” He whispered to himself with every time he brought his arms to crash into the thick ice. “Please, please, _please! PLEASE_!” He screamed, feeling the water rising up to the middle of his upper thigh as he kneeled in front of the wall. Louis tried one more time to hit the ice, but nothing happened. His breath hitched and he let out a choked sob before he slunk to the floor.

_It’s no use. It’s too thick… and I’m going to die._

**⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓**

**Multi**

**⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓**

Truth be told, the two dolphin pets known as Jackie and Evan really missed their human friend, Louis. They decided to try to pay him a visit. It was as simple as that. They made their way closer to the beach and kept behind, but saw everything going down. They saw Aeron speaking to Louis. They saw her using her siren charm to persuade Louis into confessing so much about Harry, to persuade him into taking this false deal. When Aeron had gone to take him away, they followed close—and yet still far so she didn’t sense them—behind.

The two dolphins followed them silently until they reached Capri. They watched while Louis headed inside, and watched when he was trapped within it. That was their cue to leave. It was their cue to get Louis help because whether they liked it or not, Louis was a human they could trust more than anything. Louis mattered to them because he mattered to Harry. If he was in there, he was going to die.

Hearing Louis slamming his fists into the wall and screaming to be released was heartbreaking for the dolphins. So, they decided their best bet was to tell Harry. He would know _exactly_ what to do.

The duo reached the palace and found Harry wasn’t even there. They both even headed to his secret underwater grotto, but he wasn’t there, either. In panic, they decided to split up until they came across the next best thing; The Master of Whisperers and the future Hand—whenever _that_ would be, of course.

The two dolphins screeched at both mermen, grabbing their attention quickly. Niall frowned and Liam reached his hands out to settle their panicked selves. “Down, you two, calm down. What’s the matter? What’s happened? Why’re you so frightened?” He asked gently, but his eyes were urgent. Evan chirped and squeaked, telling them exactly what they had just seen. Niall’s eyebrows rose in surprise. Liam’s eyebrows furrowed tightly, looking confused and angry.

“You know, I did hear that the scepter was taken…” Niall told Liam.

“Yeah, there’s been word of that.” Liam agreed. He looked unsurely at Niall. “I…” he sighed. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t go get Harry, he’s visiting an orphanage today and I can’t go about _accusing_ the _queen_ of something like this. That’ll also end up with them asking us questions and we can’t… answer them without pretty much confessing to us knowing that Harry’s fraternized with a human… and that we’ve kept it quiet…”

Jackie shrieked at them impatiently.

Niall grimaced. “Oh… _well_ … that is a pretty fucked up situation that human’s got himself in. _And_ Harry’s really fond of him regardless. And after all… my loyalties will always lie with Harry above all else. And knowing him...” He glanced at Niall and shrugged.

“He’d want to save Louis.” Niall finished with a small nod. “I know he’d do things for his friends even if he shouldn’t. If it’s for their well being, well… even more so. And this is for Louis' life. And… I know I’m Master of Whisperers now but I’ve served under Harry’s father’s kingsguard for a decade. And I’ve never disobeyed an order. Even if Harry’s too busy right now, I sure do know he’d want us to save that human if it’s in our power.” He looked at the two dolphins and smiled. “And I still know how to work a spear.”

“I wonder if Zayn will need to tend to him.” Liam voiced quietly.

Niall clapped. “I’ve an idea. I take your spear, head off with Jackie. You go find Zayn. If he’s at the…” Niall gulped. “The _beach_ , I mean.”

Liam sighed heavily, his arms crossed, looking between Niall and the dolphins before nodding, determined. “Fine. Here.” He tossed the spear over to Niall. “Do we have a straightforward plan?”

“As basic as it is, yeah.” Niall waved Evan over and grabbed a hold of his dorsal fin. Liam did the same with Jackie. “Let’s hurry. We don’t know how much time humans need until they die off, right? Right.” Before he could say anything else, Evan was swimming off, tugging Niall away with a yelp.

Liam laughed nervously and patted Jackie before holding onto her dorsal fin. “You’re gonna be much kinder, ri—!” before Liam could even finish his own sentence, Jackie had bounded off through the waters in an opposite direction towards the nearest beach.

It hit both Liam and Niall just how serious and huge this was. Harry _really_ cared about Louis. Louis was in trouble. If anything, Louis had done nothing but good and there was no reason for them to fear him. If Jackie and Evan, a couple of _dolphins_ thought it dire to save his life, if they couldn’t wait to find Harry and hurried to find Liam and Niall instead, then this was extremely important. Louis’ life was important to them, important to Harry…

So, Louis' life could be important to them, too. And Liam, well, if he was a part of the kingsguard, which was to guard the king, that certainly meant to guard him from emotional distress. Losing Louis would cause the worst distress, and as a guard, Liam could not have that happen. As Harry’s _ex_ guard and one of his best friends, Niall couldn’t let Harry feel the type of loss again that he had felt for his father.

It was time to be brave just like Harry. It was time to come forth towards humans and do the right thing, or it would be too late.

**⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓**

**H**

**⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓**

“Did you see a monster?”

“Where did you _go_?!”

“Did you kill anyone?”

“Did you look this pretty?”

“Did you go to Atlantis?”

“What’s the Nautical Mage like?”

“Did you eat a shark?”

“Did you _eat your own tail_?”

“Did you float through a big bubble?”

“I want a pet eel can I have some teeth?”

“Did you get sick?”

“Did you _die_?”

When it had been said that Harry would be visiting the orphanage, the kids grew very excited. On his day off a week after he’d gone to see Louis, Harry took the opportunity to head right over and spend the day with them. They were all so very cute. It was a little overwhelming—or, well, maybe their questions were a bit overwhelming. Or both. Either way, Harry didn’t mind at all. He found himself laughing warmly as they clung to him from his arms and tail. A couple even pulled at his curls. He was sure the mermaid caretaker that was looking after them got upset over it and had whispered, “Children! Where are your manners?”

Harry loved children. They were genuine. They were kind. They told the truth unless they were trying to avoid their own selves getting into trouble. Niall told Harry he might use them to get his information about the kingdom since children could be trustworthy and faithful to the right authority. Harry was happy about that because _Niall_ of all people was one of the most down-to-earth people he knew. Anyone could trust him, especially kids, and honestly, sometimes Niall was like a kid himself. They would easily listen in on important, whispered conversations throughout the kingdom to deliver back to him.

“Alright, alright, I’m sure you all want to hear about my magnificent journey before becoming king. Who wouldn’t? I entirely understand.” Harry sighed, patting some heads. “Unfortunately, I can’t tell you.” There was a chorus of soft, high, watery echoes of disappointment from the kids. Harry smiled apologetically. “See this bracelet?” He asked, pointing to it. The merfolk children crowded around him, caudal fins wiggling excitedly. “I have it on and it’s going to stay there all my life. I can never tell a single merperson about what has happened during my quest. It’s binding.”

“But did you _die_?” One of the kids asked.

Harry laughed. “No, no, of course not! I’m right here, after all.” He reached over to gently boop the kid’s nose. “I also did not have to eat my own tail, contrary to belief. That's still here, too. I know, I know. Pretty disappointing.” They made tiny disappointed sounds. One of the kids dramatically fell over Harry’s lap and draped a hand over their forehead before sighing dramatically. “Didn’t one of you ask me something about a pet eel?”

“ME!” One of the kids shouted, swimming up in front of Harry’s face. Harry couldn’t help his smile. “I always wanted an eel.”

“They’re not the easiest to take care of.” Harry informed. “That’s why I’ve got dolphins. In my opinion they’re much more loyal. Of course, if you have a lovely eel, I have heard they can be docile. It depends on how you raise them at the end of the day.” He looked over at the caretaker and smiled crookedly before returning his attention back at the kid. “I’ll make sure you’ve got all the goodies you may need and more if it’s allowed.”

Another kid spoke up curiously. “Do you have a favorite story?”

Harry grinned brightly. “I do! I actually have a favorite story that I never get tired of reading in all my life. Of course, I don’t tend to read as much as the Master of Whisperers.” They gasped, bubbles flying out of both their mouths and gills. “That’s his job. It’s to read and know things. It’s also to make people smile and laugh, but that’s just because he likes to do that part.” Harry quickly pulled up the merboy that was on his lap to hold in his arms. “It’s a story called _The Prince and the Pauper_ by a human who is apparently long dead.”

“Did a siren kill him?” One kid asked.

Harry grimaced. “I hope not. I doubt it.”

“Will you tell us this story?” Another kid asked.

Harry hummed thoughtfully. “I can give you the gist of it. I might not have enough time to tell you every single detail, and besides, I don’t have the book with me at the moment.” He paused for a moment and all of the merchildren bunched up around his tail even more, staring up at him expectantly. “Whoa, okay. Ah… so, it’s about… it’s about this peasant. He, er… he has his hardships living his own life as peasants may. It’s also about this prince who has his own hardships and is more trapped than anything. So, one day, these two people cross paths and the thing is that they look alike. So they decide to switch lives because the other’s is appealing to them. See?”

“So everyone’s happy?”

“Not exactly. They come to see the other has difficulties of their own and also see that their own truer lives have some good qualities within them, too.” The kids nodded and hummed in unison, but Harry could see they definitely didn’t think it very interesting or didn’t entirely understand the real meaning of it too much. “Maybe I can lend it to you guys whenever you want to read it.”

One kid swam up onto Harry’s head and hugged it from the side. “Now. Now. We want to read it now.” Light laughter filled the room and Harry couldn’t help but join in. “Or I won’t let you go!”

“Wow. That is a tough deal to not take. How about when I leave, I’ll get my book and come right back here to give it to you.” He looked up at the caretaker, who smiled and nodded. “And then maybe Miss Jane will read it to you sometime and then you can read it on your own when you’re older. How’s that?”

They were so positively darling. They expressed excitement with a unanimous exclamation and the mergirl who hugged Harry’s head swam down to hug around his arm. “Come on kids, it’s about time you get to eating.” The caretaker said. The kids expressed sadness before swimming away with their heads lowered. “Elia.” The caretaker said, calling for the kid who was still hugging Harry’s arm. She shook her head. “Come on, darling, the King may have important things to attend to.”

“Elia, was it?” Harry asked, looking down at the mergirl. She had a hot pink tail and bright white hair. “I promise I’ll come right back to see you all again. Especially you. Soon, too!”

She puffed out, bubbles fluttering up from her lips before she nodded and released her hold from him. She swam away to wherever the kids had disappeared off to, and Harry rose up elegantly, giving the caretaker a warm smile. She looked exhausted and they shared a look that only told Harry she loved those kids even if they drove her mad. Harry swam over to her and she bowed her head lightly. “No need for that, really. I’m—I’m a person, genuinely. I try to be, at least.” He smiled and he took her hands in his, squeezing them reassuringly.

“Thank you so much for visiting them today… and the donation!” She gushed. “I can’t believe how very generous you are, it’s overwhelming.”

“It’s the least I can do.” Harry said, eyes bright and kind. “I’m glad I could do anything to be of assistance. And they’re great. They’re really lovely kids. Deserve happiness, they do. I had a lot of fun.”

“It’s been an honor to have you here, Your Majesty.” She bowed her head again and Harry, well, there was nothing he could do about that. People were raised to treat royalty this way. Even if he didn’t like it so much, there was nothing he could do to right it. It as embedded in everyone’s heads—even Liam and Niall’s of all people.

“And I’ll come back soon to give them my book. I did promise them that, after all.”

Before Harry could start heading out, the caretaker pulled his hands to her lips and pressed a light kiss to the backs of Harry’s curled fingers. “You were blessed from Poseidon’s trident. I can sense it. I can sense you will be extraordinary in your reign. You will change things for the better. Bring a new era to not just our ocean, Harry Styles, but the whole oceanic world, I believe you will do that all just by being yourself and keeping what makes you strong, what makes you feel at home _close_ to you. It will be your biggest strength aside from that huge heart of yours. Even as young as you are, I do know you will be incredible.”

Harry looked into the mermaid’s eyes and couldn’t help the small, grateful smile that graced his features. He definitely wasn’t expecting such kind words from her. It definitely made him feel better about how everything was going so far. Maybe she was right. Maybe he would actually be an important king that people would hear about in the years _after_ he’s died from hopefully old age. Harry nodded and gave her hands another gentle squeeze before patting them lightly and pulling his own away. “Thank you. I do try.”

He sort of _needed_ that, if he was being honest. Being expected to be great and do this and that was one thing and was by far the most stressful thing. Having someone believe that no matter how greatness happens, it will happen regardless and for the better was heartwarming. Harry admired the caretaker for such words, for being able to genuinely take care of parentless kids who deserve the entire world. She was strong herself and Harry was sure she was the strength these kids could draw from. “Take care of yourself, little king.”

Harry might explode from happiness. His smile was large and dimpled and he looked down bashfully before nodding. “You and these kids as well, Miss Jane.” He said before swimming off out of the orphanage’s spongey building.

Spending all day with these kids had been one of the lightest things that had happened since winter. They were happy, full of excitement and hope that everyone should have. At one point, there were two merchildren arguing over an oyster. Harry had told them that the more they shared, the more the sun would rise. “And be purple, too.”, he had added. He had taken the oyster and cut it in half for them both to share.

Harry had seen that many of them were talented. One of the kids—an older one at about eleven years old named Zafrina—was an _artist_. It was rare to see artists in the ocean, but there she was drawing in the sand with her finger an absolute masterpiece. They had all raced one another countless times. They played Kick the Clam which required them to smack their tails on a clam to one another, and whoever missed would be left out for the round.

The funniest thing was Harry bringing enough accessories from Atlantis for them to try on. They all had a very nice time with that, trying things on and seeing what colors would look best with their tails. Harry helped them attach caudal fin drapes over their tails and they giggled when some of them glowed, changed color, or clinked like wind chimes.

It had all been very, very fun.

Before Harry headed back to the palace, he made his way to his secret grotto to grab his book. He knew that this was a favorite of his, but he had read it countless of times enough to be able to remember most quotes if he tried. He could do well without it. Reading was important, even if it _was_ a human story. Not everything was entirely clueless with this story. Truth be told, he had read this book after he’d met Louis the second time entirely. Understanding more of the human world had only made him understand the book better than he ever had in his whole life. For that, he was thankful.

Now, others could enjoy the story, too, if they wanted to.

He peered up at the tiny hole at the top of the grotto. It stopped just under the surface of the water. Usually, the light that streamed into the grotto itself from the hole would be bright and easily light the area up. Right now, it was really dim. That only meant that it was just about close to nighttime. Harry had _actually_ spent all day at an orphanage.

He also knew that his day at the orphanage wasn't wasted or selfish, too. The oil spill was taken care of for the most part, and knowing that not all humans had the intention of hurting animals, seeing that some humans took the animals to clean them up and cure them gave Harry the warmest feeling. He trusted them more. Everything was going _swimmingly,_ if Harry did say so himself.

Harry missed Louis.

Swimming towards the palace, Harry hurried to the lowest part of the wall to sneak under it and come out on the other side. He swam up to the extravagantly molded coral and sponge castle and popped into his room. He set his book down and looked around with a frown. Usually by now, Liam was lecturing him about escaping and blah blah blah even though it was his day off. That didn’t happen at all. He swam over to his doorway, lifting up the algae curtain as he did so. He looked both ways down the hall with a hardened brow, confused as to why Liam wasn’t out patrolling the hall like he literally _always_ was. Technically, he should be, too. Where had he gone?

Niall probably knew. Of course, Niall might be resting right about now. Being Master of Whisperers called for a lot of things. Being the advisor of intelligence and espionage was a busy thing. Niall might be gathering information right about now or he might be… gathering information right about now. Looking up at old archives was the same thing, right? Knowing Niall, he might just be.

A part of Harry felt bad because he always knew Niall wanted to be a sea musician. At least Niall actually _liked_ learning things rather than guarding and patrolling, right?

Harry swam over to the room where the Small Council meetings were usually held. It was empty. He ran into his mother, who dragged him away and asked him about how his day was. “Did you see the children at the orphanage? How many MT’s did you give them? I hope a lot. They deserve a lot, even if those megalodon teeth _are_ huge. There are some matters in this ocean that matter more than that of the upperclass. I’m happy you’re addressing them.” She had told him.

“Thanks mum. I, erm, was just, y’know, wondering if you might know where Liam or Niall have gotten off to?” Harry asked.

“Beats me, my dear king.” His mother kissed his forehead. “If I do hear of or see them, I’ll make sure you’re the first to know, yes?” Harry smiled with a nod, his hands folded in front of him, and his mother had a gentle hold around his neck to pull his forehead to press against her own. “You are doing a lovely job, you know that?” Harry gave her a sad smile.

The thing is that he knew in a way that he was doing fine. He no longer put on such an immature, upset expression when dealing with things he didn’t want to. He treated everyone with incredible respect even if they didn’t deserve it. He did the most for everyone. He listened to everyone and tried to please them to an extent. He was active in his roll. He had been for a little over half a year now and he was _good_ at it. The thing is that Louis was always in the back of his mind, like a reminder that deep down, he was still a selfish person. If anything, Louis lingering in his mind was a reminder of what _not_ to do to his kingdom: _hurt his people_.

He could never give such false hope again the way he seemed to have given it to Louis. The reality of it was that Louis being hurt by his selfish actions of keeping the truth from him was enough for Harry to learn from it. It was enough because Harry cared infinitely about him, even if it had been in the wrong way, inconsiderate of the repercussions of it all. As a king, he knew that if he ever angered the fish, merfolk, and sirens of his kingdom in that same way or worse, Harry would never be able to come back from that. It was _so many_ lives at stake with his own rule.

Harry continued to look for his dear friends. They weren't where the guards practiced combat, weren't eating, weren't _outside_ the palace, weren't just about anywhere. With a sigh, Harry decided the last place Niall might be was undoubtedly where all the archives and books were kept in the palace. It made the most sense. He hurried over to the large doorway of the _library_. He always forgot that's what the room was called for some reason. Harry stopped right at the algae curtain, his hand hovering just in front of it. He heard voices from the other side. They were watery, echoey hums and sounds that were quieted as if they didn't want to be heard.

Holding his hands together nervously, Harry hovered close enough to hear better.

“A human?” One of them said. That sounded like Simon.

“Yes.” That was Aeron. “I took care of it. Either he’ll be dead from not breathing in fresh air or die from drowning. I don't know which would be more likely first, of course, but one of those deaths are bound to happen.”

Harry frowned. Did Aeron kill someone?

“He would've been a threat.” Simon said. “You're sure that… That _air siphoner_ was fraternizing with our king?”

Aeron hummed haughtily. “More than that, probably. They almost kissed! I saw it with my own eyes.” She hissed, sounding infuriated.

_Wait. What?!_

Harry’s eyes widened and he clapped a hand over his mouth. “We’ll have to carry on our plan sooner than we thought, maybe. It’s only a matter of time Harry gets word of the human’s death.”

“But—”

“I hate to say it but he's _smart_. And what you did was foolish and unnecessary. It's already been difficult to get Harry to trust sirens. This would certainly anger him if he found out and destroy every seemingly good relationship the merfolk and sirens have publicly built.”

Aeron sounded angry. “It's not like I bashed his head in. I made sure it would be impossible for anyone to know it was _me_ who did it.”

“Even if you tried doing it in a way that would leave your hands clean from bloodshed, the scepter has already been reported stolen today.” Harry’s tail curled underneath him worriedly. “It was you who took it to carry this murderous act out, after all. Ironically, this all happened on the day Harry had gone off to be a good, caring king towards some orphanage.” Simon let out a watery scoff. “Do you see how there could be some loopholes in how this happened?”

“It'll be fine. We’ll still be able to take over the kingdom without a problem.” She said. “Even if humans have no powers, I didn't want Harry and him speaking enough for it to become a problem. He could've actually tried to stop everything in his own human way for all I know. I had to get rid of him. At the end of the day, there are unfortunately more humans than there are sirens.”

“I understand that, but you’ve underestimated your king.” Simon said sternly. “He _cares_ when he cares. His heart is in the right place every time. If he was close to a human— _that_ much, too, no less—then he will know in a matter of days what has occurred. _Somehow_ he will know. That will cause him to draw negative and yet correct assumptions towards the siren community and all trust gained will be wrecked. We’ll have to go forward with our plan soon. It was so carefully drawn out, too, to become so _believable_.”

Aeron laughed. “Right. Like making sure that ‘accident’ that killed the late king was planned out perfectly.” Harry’s stomach dropped. _What, what,_ **_what?_ ** “And the forging of that will. The one that said it was, what was it that it had said?”

“That he wanted the sirens and merfolk to be at peace.” Simon said. “Just to make it that much more official. I’ve been pushing that notion onto the late king for years. I knew it was never going to happen in his reign, so we had to make sure Harry’s began. So, we killed him, we had the will forged, and Harry, well, he is someone who would honor his father no matter what. Of course it hit home that his father would’ve wanted this. That’s why agreeing to marrying you went off without a hitch.”

Harry wanted to throw up.

Aeron let out a hum-like laugh. “So, this means that we’ll be able to overthrow the merfolk rule and have the sirens take over instead? And of course… if humans and merfolk die in the process then so be it.”

“And you will rule.”

“Harry’s not disposable, though. We have to keep him alive. He still has _more_ power than I. I mean now that I’ve got the scepter I have an upper hand, but he’s… not as limited with it. I'm still trying to see what else I can do with this, but when I do… when I do, this palace, this _kingdom_ will bow down to the sirens whether they like it or not.”

This was too much to take in all at once. His father’s accident wasn’t actually an accident. It was a planned murder. _A planned murder_. The will was forged. That meant that Harry never had to marry a siren. This was all a huge, horrible plot to usurp from the inside. Harry had to give it to these two—and whoever else was a part of the plan—that it had been well thought out. If Harry hadn’t listened in to this conversation, he would’ve been in the dark still, but he did, and now he knew just about _everything_. Harry couldn’t believe that this was happening, and yet… and yet he shouldn’t be surprised. Sirens were ruthless and violent.

It was just that… he just… he couldn’t believe they were planning on something so terrible.

 _Louis is dead_.

Something sharp struck him in his core when that realization hit him. He could feel the muscles in his face ache as everything threatened for him to start crying. Louis… Louis was _dead_. His Louis was dead. His father didn’t _have_ to die. His father should still be here. His father should be _alive_ , but he was outright murdered.

They were both murdered.

Harry couldn’t control it. It was tearing at him to know those two things. It was two deaths he couldn’t handle. It had taken so much for him to not mourn over his father’s death until Louis made sure he did. So now he did mourn, and Louis… Louis, how could he be dead? How could this _happen_? He should have never brought Louis into his own world. Then, they wouldn’t be as close… they would just… well, things would surely be different, but now Louis was dead because he had gotten too close to Harry.

Harry couldn’t control it. He couldn’t keep it at bay. His tears, despite him not feeling them since he was in the water, _spilled_ out and a mystical, soft echo came out from him like a cry. He hadn’t been listening to the rest of what Aeron and Simon were saying, but the moment he made any sound, their voices stopped.

He had to get the hell out.

Harry started swimming as fast as he could down the hall, away from the room. Unfortunately, the hall was very long and Aeron and Simon were out of the library just as quickly. The next thing Harry knew was that his back was shot with pain and he collapsed onto the coral floor, sliding down it until he hit the wall at the other end of the hall. He groaned, feeling the sting from the zap pulsing on his back. He didn’t want to move and yet he very well knew he should. Instead, he carefully sat up to lean against the bumpy wall. He hissed at the pain and stared straight in front of him to see Aeron and Simon swimming over to him, Aeron with _his_ scepter in her hand.

She swam quickly at him as fast as she could and aimed the two sharp tips of the scepter under Harry’s chin, the points just barely grazing the skin of his throat. He swallowed hard, his gills flitting nervously as he tried to calm down, but it wasn’t exactly working. He was very trapped at the moment. Any movement to try to get away would surely result in his own death. Harry was so worked up with adrenaline that he wasn’t even sobbing anymore.

That lasted all of two seconds.

“My king!” Aeron said, her voice falsely excited. Harry glared up at her, lifting his chin up a little. “You look like you’ve had a long day. Weren’t you visiting an orphanage?” Harry didn’t answer. His stomach twisted uncomfortably and nervously. “Did you need anything?”

Harry’s eyes narrowed. “What’re you doing?” He asked. “Why are you plotting against us?”

“HEY!” Someone shouted. Their heads turned towards the echoey voices of guards. Their spears lifted up. “What’re you doing to the king—what’s happened?!” They looked confused. It made sense. The queen had the scepter right up against the king’s throat. It was a difficult situation to assess. Harry’s heartbeat thudded against his temples as he looked from Aeron to the guards and back. Simon was coming up behind Aeron slowly.

Aeron scoffed with an eye roll and pulled Harry’s scepter from him to aim it at the guards. She didn’t even say anything before she zapped at them, sending them flying away violently.

Harry used the moment to swim away, but his tail was grabbed from behind him. Harry hissed angrily, baring his teeth as he looked behind him to see Simon pulling him from his tail. “HANDS OFF!” Harry shouted, letting Simon pull him back, only to bang his elbow into Simon’s head. He pulled his tail from his grasp and swam hurriedly in front of Aeron, but she whacked the side of Harry’s head with the scepter.

Why were sirens so _violent_?

She aimed the tip of it at him again and Harry stayed completely still, hovering in front of her. That was when he remembered something she’d said which made him… _smile_. “You need me.” Harry said. “Whatever you want to do, you need me. You said so yourself, didn’t you? So you’re not going to kill me. I suggest you drop the threat of my own scepter and stop using it before you hurt yourself.” Aeron glowered at him. Harry raised his eyebrows expectantly. “If you please, my queen.”

“Drop the courtesies, Harry.” She snapped at him. Harry opened his mouth to speak but was met with another harsh blast of power from his scepter. His back met the wall again with a hard slam. “Actually, I have a better idea.” She hissed, hovering over him and grabbing the back of his head with a hard yank, pulling it back. Harry sucked in water sharply, squeezing his eyes tightly from the prickles of pain at his scalp from where she pulled at his hair.

In royal terms, this was horribly humiliating. Harry couldn’t look anywhere but up at her. “Why? Why?” He asked, genuinely asking. “I’ve… I’ve done so much to adapt to siren ways, what more could you possibly want? Have I not given you so much so far? How could you do this? How could you… why did people have to die for this to happen? My father?” He swallowed hard. “An innocent human—”

“Oh, we’ve killing humans for eons, Harry, you know that by now.” She told him with a smirk.

Harry’s large eyes were pleading. He couldn’t hurt a fly, and without his scepter, he was pretty limited right now. Also, his head hurt. He had to somehow… _somehow_ talk to her, somehow just get her to drop this entire mess. “I know.” He said softly and clearly. “I don’t understand why him. Just like how… I will never understand why my father, I mean, _my father_ —”

“It’s been almost a year since his death, time to move on.”

Harry shook his head at her as little as he could, such hatred blazing in his eyes.

“Your father wasn’t bringing the sirens from Capri into the Atlantic.” Simon spoke, swimming over next to Aeron. “No matter how many times I suggested it to him, it was just not on his priority list. So, having him die and knowing you wouldn’t want to insult his memory only led you to accepting it all on.” Harry nearly gagged from feeling so sick. It was disgusting and selfish. Why was Simon even helping the sirens out so much? He was betraying everything! “Everyone else is collateral damage.”

“Collateral damage— _collateral damage_?” Harry yelled, his blood boiling. “I can’t believe you were so threatened that I befriended a human!”

“More than befriended, it looked.” Aeron said.

“What was he gonna do from land if everything here is happening how it is? _Nothing_. He wouldn’t have done anything. This… this isn’t his world to worry for. He has nothing to do with it. He’s only human, has no power or _anything_ to foil you and I was _already_ married to you, are you fucking kidding me?”

“Language, Your Highness.” Simon said, bringing his fist into Harry’s head. “That’s not very nice to speak to your queen in such a way.”

They heard the voices from the guards again. Aeron rolled her eyes. “Can you deal with them? And see about that his mother and sister won’t get in the way of anything.” She asked, and Simon nodded before swimming off. Harry’s heart sunk even lower, realizing yet again of the two deaths that have happened that were brutal and driven from vengeful acts. He couldn’t cry again, though, so he did his best not to. Instead, he met her eyes and raised his eyebrows again.

“Sirens may kill humans, sure.” Aeron began. “That’s true. It’s what we live for. And wow… _wow_ was your… little Louis so very easy to get into a trance. He was so… taken by you, really. Wouldn’t shut up about how amazing you were. He completely loved you.” Harry’s eyebrows quirked sadly. “When he couldn’t think about anything but his _strong_ desire to be with you, it was easy to fool him into thinking there was a _plant_ to make him into a merman. He couldn’t think straight. Humans in love, humans in lust. They’re so weak when it comes to that.”

Louis was dead.

“And I’m shocked!” She continued on, glancing at the scepter that was still aimed at Harry. “I thought it was going to be a bit harder for me to handle this thing, but once I trapped Louis in that grotto and zapped you and all those guards, oh, I knew everything else would be far too easy to handle. Now I’ve got to deal with _you_ …”

“Why?” Harry asked. “Why deal with me when you’ve clearly done so much to make sure I can’t do anything.”

“Because you’re smart. I bet you know other humans, too. Humans having enough friends could be a bit of a problem. Taking your Louis out was a necessity because of that, if you could so please understand. Up.” Harry didn’t move. She jerked her hand and Harry hissed at the sharp tug on his hair. “ _Up!_ ”

Rising up a little, she released his hold on his head and nodded off. “Where to?” Harry asked.

“Throne room. Go.”

So, Harry swam to the throne room with Aeron aiming the scepter at his back. When they arrived, Aeron made everything _freeze_. Everything. All the coral and sponge bits that made up the palace and the kingdom turned to thick pieces of ice. A section of the floor had icicles breaking up from the floor to form a sort of box.

“There. Sit there.” She said. Harry did just that, carefully trying to keep his tail from getting hurt and concealed within the icicle walls with himself. She still had the scepter pointed at him. The small square on the floor was right in front of her throne and he faced her, sitting on his tail sadly. “I have thoughts. See, a part of the plot is to… let’s see… expose the merfolk world to humans. If all of _this_ were to, oh, I don’t know… _rise up_.” Harry’s eyes widened up at her as she gestured around them with a hand. “And just… hung out in the middle of ocean on the surface… at some point some humans would have to, oh, I don’t know… come along. They’re always on boats and stuff so one’s bound to come along and see this… _palace_ with merfolk just… there. Above water. And you would all be exposed. I suppose we will be, too, but we’re not afraid of them. If anything, it’ll draw humans in and we can easily kill them. Imagine a world without humans.”

“You’re disgusting, y’know that?” Harry spat.

“Language, my dear king.” Aeron whispered. “Language. Just sit back. Relax. Watch everything unfold. There’s nothing you can do now, anyway, unless you want to die by this… little scepter of yours that I have now.” She smiled proudly. Harry tried to think of everything that could go wrong. This was so, so, _so_ bad. He looked around to see if any more guards were coming along, but none were. No one was coming. Was Simon really taking care of it all? Was Aeron’s dad also a part of this? Were all the sirens going to make sure the merfolk didn’t get in the way of their plan? “It’s time we take the Atlantic for our own, Harry. The merfolk have ruled too long and we are hungry for blood and vengeance. We’ll never get that with you ruling. You’re all too soft.” She laughed in a way that sounded like a cackle. “And you, oh, _you_ … you actually might be the softest of them all. How could someone like you rule a _kingdom_? I’ve never been so impressed with you. As much as you hold yourself, you will never resort to violence. You will never do anything that might require it even if it meant to save your own kingdom. None of you will. It’s pathetic and that is why this is happening.”

Harry’s eyes lowered, his jaw clenching with such infuriation. He couldn’t believe how trapped he was right now. He gasped, looking around at the sound of pained shouts and cries. Harry let out a haunting sob and gripped at the icicles surrounding him like a prison to hold himself from completely lying on the cold floor.

How could this happen? How could this all go so wrong? Where had he completely messed up?

How could Louis… his Louis… his _Louis Tomlinson_ … be dead? His eyes squeezed shut as cried silently. Louis was dead, no longer in this world. The brilliant laughter would never be heard. The eyes that were like the sea were to be closed forever. The most musical voice would be silent from now on, never to be heard again. The most selfless, generous soul would never bring good to this world again. Harry would never be able to see him again, talk to him again. Louis was truly _gone_.

Louis had made him so strong, and right now, he never felt so weak.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated. Thanks so much !


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis is saved my a couple of new friends, but when he learns Harry's kingdom is under an attempted overtaking right then and there, he risks everything to make sure it's okay—even his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This does have a tiny bit of more violence than usual, but I definitely tried not make it too graphic. A lot of things go on in this chapter, and no matter what, don't fret!
> 
> And that means there is one chapter left in this story! Then I can start the fourth installment which in my opinion might be one of my favorites to come!

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**Z**

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Zayn assumed that when Louis didn’t answer his phone, he was just out surfing or something. He just assumed he was nowhere near his phone. That was all. He believed that when he arrived at the beach, he would find Louis out in the water or sleeping on the sand while the sun burned his skin red. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case at all and Zayn had never been more scared in his life.

Things might’ve been okay if Louis’ stuff wasn’t lying on the sand of the beach. He might’ve been able to assume that Louis had gone off somewhere and that his phone had died. He’d believe that Louis would return when he did. That was easy to formulate and not at all horrifying. Unfortunately, Louis’ stuff was on the sand and he was nowhere to be found. His working phone was in his bag as well as a towel, some money, his license—everything was in here. So… where was Louis? His longboard wasn’t sitting on the sand, either, so that fact only worried Zayn a little more.

“Where'd he go? He wouldn’t just leave his stuff around like that.” Eleanor said.

“I don't know.” Zayn sighed. “I don’t know—this doesn’t make sense, you know? Louis’ not the type to go off and drown in the water. He’s a good swimmer, good surfer… and there’s, y’know, a lifeguard always on duty… it doesn’t make sense. How did this happen? What _did_ happen?”

Eleanor fell back onto the sand over her beach towel with a loud sigh. “I don’t know!” She pressed her lips together, toes wiggling nervously. “He didn’t even take his phone—anything. Where could he have gone?”

Where _could_ he have gone? Zayn and Eleanor had searched all around the beach for Louis. They searched the shack Louis used to work at, asked their friends, asked Carl, even, who was their best bet since Louis had been with him last. They searched through the bathrooms on the ends of the beach and yet he was nowhere to be found. Zayn was worried for Louis. Was he okay? Was he in trouble?

A vibrating sound broke Zayn’s thoughts. He frowned, grabbing Louis’ bag and found his phone vibrating gently. “Uh oh.” Zayn muttered, taking the phone out to see that Jay was calling Louis. He glanced at Eleanor and she grimaced with a shrug. So, naturally, Zayn tapped the green button and held it out on speaker. “Hello?”

“Zayn?”

“Hey Jay, how are you?” Zayn asked, biting his lip.

“Good, good, how are you, dear?”

“Fine. Everything’s good, how are you?”

“You already asked that, love!”

_Jesus._ Eleanor covered her face with her hands. Zayn let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, I’m sorry. Whoops!”

“You’re fine, dear. Where’s Louis? Have to ask him if he can babysit the twins tonight.”

Eleanor made a soft sound and Zayn was quiet. “He’s… actually… got a shift… _tonight_ so…” Eleanor looked up and nodded, urging Zayn to go on. He sighed shakily. “Yeah, I’m sorry, he’s actually getting in the shower for it right now.” Eleanor shook her head, eyes bright with insistence. “I mean, he’s like showering right now, already got into the shower a bit ago. Sorry.”

“Oh, that’s fine, love. Thank you for telling me!”

“It’s no problem, Jay. Take care, all of you.” Zayn said, sighing out in relief.

“You too, love.”

They disconnected. Zayn tossed Louis’ phone into his bag and groaned. “What the fuck?” Zayn whispered, pressing the pads of his thumb and index finger into his eyes, rubbing softly. “I have no idea where he is! I can’t lie like that again. What if he’s seriously missing? What if he got kidnapped?”

“God, shut up, don’t say that.” Eleanor told him quietly. 

“But honestly… We’ve been here for hours. The beach is pretty much empty save for… Carl?” Zayn looked around. It was true. They’d been sitting on the sand for hours after looking around. They’d also even chanced walking around the boardwalk across the beach. Unfortunately, no one has seen or heard of Louis today other than Carl. Carl himself was worried now that he knew Louis was MIA. Zayn figured if Louis was fine, he would end up showing up sooner or later, right? Then, he and El could rip him a new one for disappearing for however long.

The sky was dark, too. It was nighttime.

“Fuck. Maybe we should… I don't know, head home or something.” Zayn muttered, getting to his feet. 

“Are you sure?” Eleanor asked, peeking up at him.

Zayn laughed. “No. I’m really not.”

“Zayn!”

Zayn looked up at the sound of his name. It wasn’t Eleanor calling him, either. The voice was far too deep for that. He looked around them, wondering if there was someone else on the beach, but he heard a knocking sound. Setting his eyes to the rocky pathway, he saw a pair of hands hitting the rocks by the knuckles before disappearing behind the other side. Zayn looked behind him at Eleanor and held his hand out for her to wait as he went to go check it out.

Climbing up onto the rocky pathway, Zayn stood tall and peered down at the other side where the ocean water lapped against it. He noticed a tiny glow underwater that revealed a long fish tail that was a surprisingly familiar. Zayn’s heart started hammering against his chest and he crouched a little, looking down into the water.

“Liam?”

Liam rose up and Zayn almost fell backwards from how sudden the movement was. “Jesus!” Zayn whispered. 

“You alright?” Eleanor asked.

“Yeah, hang on.” Zayn said, unsure if it was okay or not for Eleanor to… to _see_ , exactly. Louis had told him that it was way too important to make sure merfolk were kept a secret from humans. The more people know, the more it could be dangerous, but Zayn knew Eleanor… but for right now, he would wait to see what Liam said.

“Who’s that?” Liam whispered, inching closer, and Zayn pulled his legs back to cross them over the rocks. “It doesn’t matter. There are more important things at stake right now.” He said before Zayn could even answer. “Listen. Your friend—he _is_ your friend, right? The other human that’s been talking to my king? You do know Harry, don’t you?”

Zayn’s mouth opened and he paused. “Er—yeah, yeah. I know… Harry—do you mean Louis? Do you know what’s happened to him?” He asked worriedly. “He’s gone missing. All of his stuff is here, too. I can’t find him anywhere.”

Liam looked at him gravely. “That’s because Louis’ been taken.” He said. Zayn’s eyes widened before his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “It’s a bit of a long story but the gist is that he’s in trouble and could die—or worse, he could be dead right _now_.” _What?_ “I’m not sure. Is there a way you can get yourself on the water as soon as possible? I’ve got my friend Niall off helping him. He’s supposedly trapped in a sea cave in Capri. With any luck, Niall will save him, but he’s far from here. In the Mediterranean—of course. obviously, I guess since I told you he was in Capri. I didn’t mean to make it sound like I thought you were stupid. I don’t—anyway, I only ask because… let’s say Louis’ fine, with Niall, whatever. If the queen had wanted him dead, Louis being in the ocean may still be a bit of a danger. So if… if we could somehow get to him, meet him half way… it might make things easier.” 

Liam was speaking quickly, urgently, but looked at Zayn apologetically. Zayn, on the other hand, was in shock, trying to register everything Liam was saying. It was too much information in such a small amount of time. Louis was _taken_? Missing? Nearly dead? What was he saying? 

“Excuse me?” Eleanor asked, suddenly appearing right beside Zayn. “What is going on? Who are you speaking to—“

Zayn’s eyes widened, not looking at her, but looked at Liam, whose eyes were wide with fear, too. He slowly turned his head to look at Eleanor, whose mouth was agape with such surprise and disbelief. “Eleanor…” he said slowly. “before you… freak out…”

Liam ducked into the water with a splash. Apparently, he was going to be the first to freak out instead.

“That went well.” Zayn muttered, gently patting the side of the rocks to grab Liam’s attention. “Liam! It’s my friend, and Louis’, too! Come on. She won’t bite, I promise.” 

“Did you see— _what?!_ How are you so calm?!” Eleanor shrieked, her hands flying to her mouth to scream into them before lifting her face up to look at Zayn. “That was a _mermaid_! Man! I don’t— _what the fuck—_ ” She shouted.

“Shhh!” Zayn hissed, waving his hands for her to quiet down.

Eleanor looked at Zayn wildly like he was crazy. “Don’t tell me to shush! A literal merman is right in front of us! I’m going mad, oh my god—”

Zayn grabbed her wrists as she started flailing about in panic. “El, El, El. Hey!” She met his eyes, breathing hard against the palms of her hands when she clapped them over her mouth. “He knows where Louis is! We can—look. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but we can’t deal with your shock right now. We can talk about this all later, but right now, Louis is in trouble. We’ve got to think straight right now. Get it in your head that… this is real and that _Louis needs our help_.”

Eleanor was still breathing heavily, eyes wild, until she started to calm down. Zayn gently let go of her wrists. “Right… right…” she gasped, pulling her hands away from her mouth. “Okay. Yes. Okay…” she visibly started relaxing more and more. Zayn looked down at Liam, who was still under the water. The two of them were quiet and patient as they looked down into the water until Liam’s head poked up only a little. 

“Apologize,” Zayn whispered from the corner of his mouth.

“I’m sorry for… for how I acted.” Eleanor said when Liam’s large, brown eyes peeked up at her. “I was just… definitely not expecting… to ever see someone like you… ever. In my life.”

Liam looked down from her, seeming wary, and Zayn could understand. Truth be told, even _he_ was still a bit wary about the whole merfolk thing, but he definitely accepted their existence. It was something to get used to, he supposed. Liam looked back up at her, then looked at Zayn. Zayn gave him a small, reassuring nod and Liam rose up above the water some more. “Liam,” Zayn began, meeting his eyes. Liam sighed out softly, giving him a small smile. 

Something popped up behind Liam and squeaked happily. It was a dolphin. “This is Jackie… by the way.” Liam said, turning to pet the dolphin’s head. Jackie’s muzzle nuzzled Zayn's hand and she chirped again. “She was the one who told us what happened to Louis. Look, I’m no human expert but he might not be alive soon unless Niall’s got him already. So Niall and Evan—her mate—are going to travel all the way back from Capri when they save Louis. Is there a way… you can get in the water and swim to meet him? Like I said, Louis isn’t safe in the ocean right now if the queen had done this to him. Niall and Evan can protect him as they escort him back here, but if something else happens… it’d be best if there was a way to be entirely sure he was safe, do you understand?”

Eleanor snapped her fingers and looked at Zayn. “Your catamaran!”

Zayn tilted his head left and right. “Well, sure, yeah, but it’s nighttime, El. I don’t think the marina’s open right now. I can’t get passed the gates at this hour.”

Liam’s eyes lit up with an idea. “Is your boat set up at the marina? That’s what you mean, right? It’s close by, isn’t it?” He asked. Zayn nodded slowly. “Perfect. We can take you to the marina as fast as possible if you’re okay with it.”

“What? How?”

“Holding onto her, of course.” Liam said as if it was just oh so obvious. He demonstrated by grabbing the dorsal fin of the dolphin. “She goes pretty fast.” Zayn wasn’t so sure. This sounded absurd, right? Sure, dolphin riding was a thing, but… He looked over at Eleanor to make sure he wasn’t the only one who thought this was far beyond ridiculous. She shared an equally weirded out look. Liam sighed at Zayn, grabbing his attention again. “Look, it’s entirely your choice. It’s just a a suggestion from yours truly at the end of the day. Niall and I’ve gone out of our way to seek Louis and you out—a couple of humans. And we’re terrified of humans, but Louis means a _lot_ to Harry, our king. We know he would’ve wanted to make sure Louis was okay.” 

Zayn twisted his mouth sadly, glancing over at Eleanor, whose expression softened. Liam was hitting home with this. At the end of the day, it seemed Liam’s—and this person named Niall’s—efforts were to save Louis. Sure, it might be because they were loyal to Harry, but the fact that merfolk were scared of humans and that they decided to ignore that for Louis’ sake was enough to have Zayn genuinely considering this plan.

“He’s your friend, Zayn, isn’t he?” Liam asked. “You were quick to help me. Wouldn’t you do the same for your friend if you knew that even if he were alive—like I said, Niall is taking care of _that_ as I speak—he could still be in danger in the ocean while he gets back here?”

“Hey,” Eleanor spoke. Zayn looked over at her. “I—I trust him?” She said, letting out a soft sigh. “I just—mer… people exist, yeah? So who’s to say that Louis isn’t in some dire trouble? If you need to get to your boat to meet him halfway and get him up on the boat and then take him home, then I say do it. I would if I were you. It’s just getting on your boat when the marina’s closed at this hour that’s tricky but…” She shrugged. Jackie the dolphin made a soft sound and looked at her. Eleanor hesitantly reached a hand out for the dolphin to nudge lightly, making her softly laugh. “I’ll stay here in case… you know?”

“Thanks, Eleanor.” Zayn said with a nod. “Sure. Yeah. And, I hate asking you for one more thing, but I don’t know how long this whole thing is going to take. If you can… if you can keep people away from the beach somehow, that’d be awesome. It’s nighttime and no one’s coming here at night but us, but I think we’d all feel better if when we got back, no one was around. This seems pretty big. If you need to even talk to Carl, will you?” He asked, and Eleanor nodded. “Great.” He looked down at Liam and nodded surely. “All right, let’s do this.” He said, bringing his legs over the edge of the rocks. He took his phone out and wondered how he was going to carry it without getting it wet. “Er…” well, that was tricky and probably not going to happen. Oh well. With a regrettable sigh, he handed it to Eleanor. “Watch that for me?” She nodded happily and Zayn fell into the ocean water, ignoring how cold it was.

“All right, grab on here.” Liam said, pointing to the fin of the dolphin that stuck out of the water at the top. Zayn did just that, holding on tightly. “It’s gonna be a ride.” Liam voiced, and before Zayn could say anything, his body was shooting forward as the dolphin named Jackie bounded ahead. 

“LIAM!” Zayn shouted. “You couldn’t have given me a bit of a warning there?!” He asked, but Liam’s frilly tail stuck out of the water as Liam dove under it head first, then disappeared. Zayn sighed. If everything wasn’t so ludicrous, he could admire how genuinely lovely Liam’s tail was, could concentrate on how actually fun it was to be taken around by a dolphin, but his heart was thudding merciless against his chest as Jackie headed for the marina. Louis was actually in trouble. He could _actually_ be…. be…

Okay, he really couldn’t think of the worst case scenario right now or he’d get nothing done.

Liam rose up on Zayn’s left side, matching the speed of the dolphin and swimming alongside him. “Sorry!” Liam said. “It’s just one of those things you can’t prepare for I guess!” The sparkle in Liam’s eyes was something Zayn couldn’t help catch as he looked over at him. Zayn smiled to himself and he looked forward. “How are you doing? I heard you still haven’t used up my wish! What are you waiting for?”

Huh. Louis must’ve told Harry about that… which means… Liam must’ve asked about him, right? Zayn’s eyebrows quirked as he glanced over at Liam. “Why do you need to know?!”

“It’s more along the lines of me _wanting_ to know rather than needing to know, if that makes sense.” Zayn beamed. “Seriously, what are you waiting for? Anyone else would’ve already used up the wish by now. Louis’ already used up his the moment he got it, so I've been told.”

Zayn shook his head lightly. “I’m waiting for something important! There’s nothing I immediately want right now, so why waste it on something I really don’t need right _now_ when… like, when something really big comes along and I’ll need that wish, I can then use it?”

“Will you tell me whenever you make it?” Liam asked hopefully, eyes equally bright. Zayn was endeared, oh _goodness_ he was endeared. It was nice to see Liam not as scared now, talking much more easily. He definitely wasn’t as frightened as when they first met. It was almost hard to believe this was the same person. Zayn liked it. Liam was cool.

“If you’re around whenever I make it or after I make it, I’ll make sure to tell you all about it. Promise.”

Jackie underneath him slowed down a little as they drew near the marina’s waters. She weaved along the boats—Zayn pointed out where his was, but Jackie screeched in annoyance. Liam said she knew which boat it was and was offended he thought she needed it pointed out at her—and Zayn found he was… slowly, but surely, easing in to all of this. Liam was real. He was a merman. He could speak to dolphins. Jackie was a dolphin and was smart, taking him around like it was no big deal. Louis was in trouble because of nautical, magical forces at work and another merman was surely saving him. Louis was also very close to the king of the Atlantic Ocean, another merman.

This was real and Zayn… Zayn was oddly beginning to really be okay with it all.

“All right?” Liam asked, shaking Zayn out of his thoughts.

“Hmm?” He asked, feeling stupid. “Oh, yeah. Surprisingly enough, yes. I mean… I’m terrified to know my best friend might actually be dead or may die later if things go wrong…” Zayn grimaced at that thought. He had to think of something else before he cowered in that dark possibility. “But, it’s like… like I’m… I’m okay. I feel like I can trust you? Is that weird? Like, I believe you and everything. I sort of… I even have faith in your friend who’s gone off to save Louis.”

Liam stared at Zayn before looking straight ahead. “No,” he began. “it’s not weird at all, no. As a matter of fact, I also trust you. But… you’ve proven that you are trustworthy when you saved me.” Zayn smiled at that. “You’ve got to know… how _scared_ we are of you humans, Zayn.” Liam paused for a moment. “You know, we hear stories that date back thousands of years of humans fishing. Of course we would want to hide away from that and protect the fish as much as we can. It’s difficult of course. You guys tend to fish anyway. Being… being caught like that and seeing you so close… it was… I honestly thought I was done for.”

Zayn kept quiet, the only sound between them being the water as they hurried forward. _They’re more afraid of you than you are of them_. That saying seemed to apply to a lot of different animals and creatures. How sad was it that Liam and the rest were _partly_ human and yet they were _afraid_ of full fledged ones? It must be unfortunate. It was nice that fish seemed to be very accepting of merfolk, but humans… well, humans who were selfish and brutal might not all be as kind. Liam had a right to be afraid. As Zayn tried to see himself in Liam’s shoes—or tail, rather—he couldn’t help thinking that he would be afraid of himself in that sort of situation, too.

“But you… you completely destroyed every sort of stereotype we merfolk have heard from you. You let me go. You let those _fish_ go, too. You suddenly prove every fear I had wrong in a matter of minutes. So if anything is weird, it’s my trust in _you_.”

Zayn gave Liam a small nod, understanding to the extent that he could. He appreciated it so much and it wouldn’t go to waste—he hoped, at least. 

Jackie stopped right at the back of the boat and Zayn pulled himself up onto the stairs. He was quiet as he headed up the top deck, nervous of the fact that he had to work on the controls to drive it, except he didn’t have the key. “Are you joking right now?” Zayn whispered to himself, searching his clothes even if he knew it was pointless. Well, it wasn’t like he had been _planning_ on coming up on the yacht today, so it wasn’t all that weird he didn’t have the key. With a frustrated sigh, Zayn hurried down and stood over the side of the yacht to look down at the water. “Liam, I don’t have a key! There’s no time.”

“Not to worry, human Zayn.” Liam told him with a bright smile that made his eyes arc a little with how gleeful he seemed. Zayn blinked down at him. Liam nodded over at Jackie, who hurried to settle herself at the boat’s front. “I can’t do anything but maybe move the waves a tiny bit, but Jackie can help a little more, too. She’s done it before, after all.”

That was true. Louis did tell him of the wonders these animals had done to get this yacht across all of the oceans. “Can you believe Louis said that he was taking Harry to see his dead relative on the boat?” Zayn said. Liam stared up at him. “As a cover up because I had no idea merfolk existed at the time, right? So he comes with Harry to my house,” Zayn didn’t even realize the boat was moving all on its own. He draped his arms over the side of the boat and peered down at Liam as he swam alongside it. “and he’s like, ‘This is my friend Harry. He needs to go to Boston because his father died and lived in Boston.’ all because Harry needed a boat to sail around the ocean at the speed of light.”

“Your friend sounds mischievous for lying like that.” Liam said, looking up at Zayn briefly. “Can’t believe Harry cares about someone who could give out a white lie like that so easily. Except… well, I guess it was all for Harry’s sake, so it’s not too bad. Were you angry when you found out the truth?”

Zayn grimaced. “Not really? After Louis explained about everything, I wasn’t as upset. It was a lot to take in, but… but meeting you firstly I think sort of, like, eased me in to all of that, if anything—oh, we're moving?”

Liam laughed before the sound grew watery and he splashed underwater for a moment, only to come back out again. “Took you long enough to realize it.”

Zayn looked out ahead on his left and nodded. “You’re easy to talk to, I guess.”

“You became easy to talk to for me, too.”

Zayn smiled to himself and tried keep it hidden as he buried a bit of his face into his forearm. Half of his mind was content that Liam seemed to be an okay person and could easily speak with him, while the other half was constantly worried for Louis’ wellbeing. _Hang on, Louis_. _I’m coming for you._ He’d be damned if he didn’t make sure his best friend was okay, no matter the circumstances. Seeing as they were a little out-of-this-world, Zayn was sure that Liam’s presence somehow made him not concentrate on how nerve-wracking this whole thing really was.

Liam was a good person.

“So…” Zayn spoke, since, well, he might as well kill some of the silence with conversation, right? “Tell me a bit about yourself, Liam.”

“I’m going to be Hand to the king one day.” Liam said, smiling up at Zayn. “What about you?”

“You definitely win, then. I tattoo people. Nothing too important.”

Liam looked confused for a moment. “Tattoo?... what…"

“Oh,” Zayn pointed at his forearm. “These. These are tattoos. I give these to other people. I mean—I gave a couple to myself but for the most part, these were done by other tattooists.”

“You mark other people’s skin? It looks like a bunch of art.”

Zayn grinned. “Yeah. That’s why most times people actually call tattooists tattoo artists. It takes some skill to be able to actually draw something out with enough detail and stuff. I mean—okay, now I sound like I’m being super conceited but I’m talking about, like, the others. Like, I feel I can improve in a lot of areas and stuff and artists do things better and it’s like—”

Liam ducked into the water again before suddenly jumping high into the air, cutting Zayn off. When he started falling back down, he gripped the metal bars of the side of the catamaran, making Zayn lift his arms off and take a step back. Liam smiled at him and tilted his head as he eyed Zayn closely, trailing his bright brown eyes over his skin before nodding with a smile. “They’re positively remarkable.” He said before soaring backwards and falling into the water in an arc.

Zayn suddenly remembered to breathe. He didn’t even know he was holding his breath to begin with. He let out a shaky gust of air through his mouth and laughed quietly to himself. 

Liam was impressive.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**L**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

A lot of things run into a person’s head when they’re trapped in a grotto in Capri while they’re waiting to drown because the ways out have been closed off by thick ice. One of those things was a bit of logic that Louis was shocked he could concentrate on. It happened to be the fact that it was summer and he wondered how the ice wasn’t melting. The ice melting would make everything easier and he could wait until it was melted enough to break through it and get out. Louis hypothesized that it was some quality of the scepter’s magic that made the ice _not_ melt. That and… well… it was… whatever time it was. Louis had no idea, but it was dark outside and he wanted to sleep. 

Of course, he was nearly pressed up against the rocky ceiling of the grotto, so that just wasn’t going to end up happening unless he wanted to drown faster.

At some point during all of this waiting, he had really, really given up in trying to get out and had just slowly accepted his inevitable fate of dying. He didn’t even care that no one was going to find him because he would end up being stuck in here… dead. Just dead. Maybe if someone did find him eventually, he would be rotting or entirely a skeleton. Louis wasn’t sure how long decomposing or rigor mortis or whatever it was actually took, so his mind wandered on that a little bit.

Was it different if he was _in_ water?

He was so, so, tired. It took a lot out of him to continuously keep afloat.

Louis wasn’t quite sure what was more comfortable, either. He could lie flat on his back in the water and wait for the level to rise. Then, when his body was pressed up against the rocks and he had nowhere to go, the water could just engulf him and he’d drown that way. He felt like if he swam about like normal, it was more work and he got more tired easier. So, Louis did just what he thought he should and let the water lift him up as he lay flat over it. He yawned greatly and reminded himself he certainly couldn’t be asleep when this all happened. It wouldn’t be a nice thing to wake up and then suddenly be unable to breathe. Yes, he’d rather be awake for it.

He remembered drowning.

He remembered some mystical force drawing him up from his bed on the yacht and then jumping into the water. Then, he remembered being pulled by _nothing,_ being pulled deeper and deeper into the abyss of the ocean. He could remember that fear, remember screaming and yet keeping his breath held until he couldn’t anymore. Making that initial choice to suck in water because his chest was growing tight and uncomfortable was horrifying. The sting of water passing through his nostrils and into his lungs had passed quickly, though, and he was out in moments as he was still dragged deeper and deeper.

Then, Harry saved him and he was okay the moment his head broke the surface of the water… except he also _wasn’t_ okay. He’d been very shaken from it all since the last thing he had remembered was being pulled under and drowning just like that.

Louis found he was welcoming this slowly, surely, and calmly. What else was he going to do, right?

_Rising, rising, rising…_

Louis had to take slow, deep breaths every time the rocky ceiling just got closer to him. He kicked his longboard away whenever it managed to make its way to him. There would be no point in _that_ anymore. He was done for. Louis sighed shakily, reaching up with his hands to see that his palms could touch the ceiling of the grotto. He was going to die _soon_. This actually really, really sucked. He didn’t want to die, and yet… and yet…

No, he really didn’t see a way out of this.

He was also worried because Zayn and Eleanor might have been looking for him at the beach. Maybe they saw that his stuff was still on the sand but he was nowhere to be found. What would they do then? Did they look for him out in the ocean to see he was nowhere in sight? What _then_? What could they possibly do? For all they knew—and they were sort of right if they did think it—he was missing. Hopefully they thought he had drowned because that was closer to the truth.

Oh, but his mother. His mother would be devastated. So would his sisters. He hoped, at least. He also hoped they wouldn’t be devastated at the same time. It was a complicated desire.

Louis hoped that Harry was okay. He hoped that he could deal with his horrible siren queen and foil her plot before it got too far, that the palace and kingdom were both very safe from anything horrible.

How did it all _get_ like this? A year ago, Louis certainly didn’t think anything would lead him to end up trapped in a grotto, waiting for inevitable death as water magically filled up the entire space. A year ago, he didn’t even think he’d feel so strongly about Harry, either. He didn’t think anything. He just thought his life would be pretty normal and he’d see Harry on occasion when he was able, but they’d keep in touch through those messages in a bottle…

Now he was going to die! Amazing.

Louis’ breath hitched, the fear bubbling inside him again when the water reached just under his chin and he pushed gently with his hands so he wasn’t entirely pressed up against the rocky ceiling. He really, really didn’t want to die. The truth of it all was that it was so distressing to know he was going to anyway. He didn’t want his life to end. He just didn’t. Louis was horrified of dying, especially since he _technically_ had before just last year… by drowning, too.

He couldn’t believe that had happened. He couldn’t believe _this_ was happening. And yet, it so very was. At the brink of the end of his life, Louis figured he could be a little dramatic, right? Fuck it, he was going to be dramatic, especially if he needed to calm down a little more.

“I’m a castaway,” he whispered, singing shakily so he wouldn’t freak out even more, wouldn’t cry from the fear that he had thought had dissolved away a while ago. “barely clinging to the wreckage… I hope this t-tidal… wave might bring you…” he tried taking in deep breaths in, far too conscious that only his head and his forearms were still above water, but not for long. “my last message… ‘cause I’ll sing… and we’ll play until the sun comes up again… we’ll s-stay…” the water was up against his chin, occasionally washing over it. Louis’ stomach twisted uncomfortably. “and go down with… with this sh-ship…”

It was calming him to sing, but barely.

“I-I’m foolish… and have stubborn bones…” his voice shook like the water around him, breaking and threatening. “B-but it’s long-past… the point of letting go. And I’m still here now… h-hold…” Louis’ eyes closed as the water rose up above his mouth, only his nose and forehead just barely above water. It still lapped around him, nearly entering his nose sometimes, so he held his breath with a big gust of air and let his body fall so his legs were underneath him. He lowered himself underwater and kept there, just waiting, looking around, feeling the tightness in his chest start.

Louis didn’t care if his eyes stung from keeping them open. It was nothing to the building discomfort in his lungs. His eyes shut tightly and he fought with every bit of himself not to give in quite yet. He wasn’t ready, but he had to be—

Something bumped hard against the wall of ice that _was_ the entrance to the sea cave. It broke through. Louis’ eyes were wide as the object broke through again and again, making small holes and then joining to make a larger one. The water was flowing out of the cave in a wave, and Louis immediately swam up to break through air, gasping for breath when he could, holding on to a part of the cave wall so the pressure of the water didn’t take him away.

The water was seeping out so fast and he was gradually lowering. There was a huge break in the opening of the cave’s entrance where the ice had been. Louis let out a shaky laugh at his luck. He wasn’t going to die. He was alive. He was _alive_ , swimming in the grotto when the water had all spilled out until it couldn’t anymore.

A wet, blond head poked up in sight when everything was still and calm again. Louis swam over to the entrance and gripped at the edges of the broken ice wall to see who it was that had saved his life. The blond’s eyes were wide with fear, and yet he seemed like he was trying to be brave all the same. He rose up a little and waved for Louis to come out of the cave, but didn’t say anything.

That was when a very familiar dolphin rose up from behind him and nudged the merman’s back.

“H-hey…” Louis said, swimming out of the cave carefully. The dolphin—he was sure it was Evan—hurried over to greet him. “Hi, you—“ Louis was still breathing heavily. All that build up and adrenaline in waiting to die didn’t go away easily. “Hey, you. Look at you, how’d you find me?” He asked, petting the dolphin’s muzzle. Evan chirped happily and Louis hugged him from the side tightly, so thankful for this creature.

He looked up at the unfamiliar merman, who had ducked most of himself into the water save for the top half of his head. The merman looked at Louis warily with wide eyes, seeming unsure.

“Thank you.” Louis told him. The merman blinked at Louis. “For… for… doing whatever you did—you have no idea how impeccable your timing was. I can’t thank you enough for saving my life.”

The merman rose up a little and gave Louis a smile. He opened his mouth and closed it, then opened his mouth again and carefully spoke. “Y-you’re… w-welcome…” He said. Louis gave him a reassuring, grateful smile. “Any…. any friend of… of Harry’s…” The blond swallowed. “Any—I mean, erm—yeah. Any friend of Harry’s… is a friend of mine.” Louis grinned proudly. He felt proud—was that silly? He knew that when he and Harry had met, Harry was speaking to him in the watery merfolk language he spoke. This one, it seemed, might’ve spoken english _rarely_. “I’m Niall.”

Louis’ eyes brightened excitedly. So _this_ was Niall. “Niall,” Louis said, nodding. Still holding onto his dolphin friend, he swam a little carefully in front of Niall and reached a hand out for him. “It’s actually really, really good to meet you, finally. Heard a lot about you, even. I’m Louis.”

Niall stared at Louis’ offered hand for a while and didn’t say anything. Louis in turn was patient and his smile never faltered. He was calming down a little, too. Hesitantly, Niall took Louis’ hand and shook it lightly. When Louis nodded to let him know he was doing fine, Niall finally returned the smile back. Louis was shocked to see such a brilliant smile, too, and it met Niall’s blue eyes. Niall looked like the type of person who was put on this earth to give people smiles and laughs on a day to day basis. 

“H-heard a lot about you, too.” Niall sounded like he was becoming more relaxed now. Louis tilted his head at him. “I’m sorry I don’t… speak human english too much. Or human anything for that matter, but… I do know it. I—I do. Sorry. I’ve never… exactly spoken to one or shook hands with one.”

“No you’re doing fine, lad.” Louis told him, his voice light and genuine. “Promise. How’d you even… do this, how did you find me? How did you break though the ice?”

Niall nodded down at Evan. “Evan and Jackie wanted to visit you just in time, it seemed. Saw everything go down. Aeron… taking you away and using her power to lure you into this trap and everything. So they tried finding Harry, couldn’t, found Liam and I instead. I’ve got a, er—a spear, this.” Niall took it out of the water. It was long, sharp, and thick. “Stabbed it through a few times until the ice could all break and stuff. Yeah.”

“Thanks… thanks so much…” Louis said, patting Evan’s rubbery skin and earning a delighted squeal from the mammal. “Thank you both.” 

He had to tell Niall what he knew. 

“Listen, I was—I was completely out of it, yeah? When she was talking to me and all, but now I can… I can sort of make sense as to what she said. Look, she told me some things, Niall and…” he shook his head. “The kingdom or whatever? It’s in absolute danger. She said… she said Harry’s _queen_ —so her—said she wanted to take over the kingdom for herself and put the Atlantic back in siren power. I mean, it was something like that which… you know, I expect would be important information to pass on?”

Niall’s eyes widened and he stared at Louis. “Are you serious?”

“She did lock me up in a sea cave to die. I couldn’t lie if I tried. There are some things in this life you just can’t make up and the Atlantic Ocean’s siren queen locking me in a grotto that was filling up with water so I could die because I talk to the merman king every once in a while is simply… not one of them, no.” Louis said, speaking quickly. “So… so I definitely couldn’t lie about her plan to take complete control over everything, either.”

The pause between was almost comical. Louis maybe would have laughed if he wasn’t so insistent in delivering this message and hopefully getting home soon. “No, no, I guess you couldn’t make that up. Especially since you’re human. It’s a bit too specific.” Niall nodded in agreement. Louis decided he liked Niall. “That’s bad, though. I’ve got to tell Harry. As the Master of Whisperers I definitely think it would be fitting. But first… let’s get you home.”

Louis nodded, smiling softly as he gripped onto Evan’s dorsal fin. “Let’s get going—WHOA!” Louis yelled as Evan suddenly pushed forward with a speed that he should’ve remembered. He heard Niall laughing, and it was the most joyous thing Louis was sure he’d ever heard next to Harry’s bursts of laughter. Louis glanced over his shoulder to see Niall’s bright smile alight in the night and Louis was not at all surprised Harry would be friends with someone who looked like the very personification of happiness. “Niall, over here! God damn, how am I supposed to talk to you if you’re so far away?”

“I’m right behind you!” Niall said, swimming a bit faster so he could be at Louis’ side. 

“I’m glad. So what exactly _is_ a Master of Whisperers again?”

Niall beamed. “So, basically I'm the advisor of intelligence and so I… I—it’s my job to know just about everything that’s going on in the kingdom. Then I tell Harry about it.”

Louis nodded a little, Evan still hurrying forward and Niall keeping up without a problem. “Did you tell Harry about this whole mess?”

Niall pressed his lips together, looking guilty. “He… doesn’t… know.” Louis raised his eyebrows at him. “Jackie and Evan saw everything go down, right? Then they came looking for Harry, couldn’t find him, found us. We thought we should maybe save you before we go find Harry and, well, I think that proved to be the right choice. I kind of guessed it was a time sensitive rescue.”

They both laughed softly and Louis honestly couldn’t disagree with that. “You’re telling me. I owe you now. If I were a merman myself I’d give you one of my scales.”

Niall tilted his head with the sweetest smile. “That’s really sweet of you, actually. It’s the thought that counts. It means a lot.”

If things ended okay, Niall might actually end up to be a decent acquaintance to see once in a while. Louis liked his company. If anything, he managed to lift any upset energy Louis had had in himself until now. Niall was the type of person people should surround themselves with as much as possible. 

The two of them spoke the whole way. Louis proved his patience every time when explaining things to Niall that he asked about. Niall asked a _lot_ , too. It seemed Niall knew a lot about human history and the like, having had read so much during most of his calmer times of the day. Louis was eager to tell him as much as he could about what he asked. In turn, Niall gave Louis a rundown of a lot of merfolk history—in particularly, the start of the Styles’ royal family reign.

“Harry’s father, the late king, was Desmond Styles. His mother is Anne Cox. The Styles lineage has been ruling for a pretty few bunches of generations. Gemma Styles is a princess who I honestly don’t think is going to end up marrying someone anytime soon. It doesn’t seem to be a priority of her’s.” Louis smiled at this, remembering that Harry had told him that, but it was nice to have it laid out. “Erm… right, so sirens and merfolk have been enemies for centuries. The second Styles king had actually been the one to exile sirens to Capri due to their violent mannerisms.”

“I see.” Louis said, nodding.

“And, well, I guess Harry’s father wanted them back so this all happened… but at the cost? I don’t know… and I know that Harry had agreed to it all because it was, I guess, his father’s dying wish for the two species to coexist once again.” Louis lowered his eyes, thinking of that. Harry _would_. God, he would be the type of person to give up his freedom to marry who he wants whenever he wants to so he can be loyal to his father’s memory and wishes. It made so much sense that if it was at all possible, a little more of Louis’ dormant anger had dissolved away.

Louis couldn’t… Louis couldn’t blame him at all.

“So the first Styles king came into power because Red Handed Isen assassinated the entire royal family before the Styles. How he did it all alone is a mystery even to this day, but he did. Preston Styles—“ Louis’ free hand flew to his mouth as he started laughing. Niall laughed, too. “I know! Terrible name. Can’t believe it. So he manages to kill Isen because after Isen kills the royal family, he tries to kill everyone else in the kingdom. Don’t know why, he was just on a rampage, but this common _teenager_ manages to best him. The kingdom dubs him king and it’s been that way ever since.”

“So heroic, I’m impressed.” Louis nodded with a small jut of his lower lip and a hum. “Are there ever any wars down here?”

Niall nodded. “Yes. Yes we’ve had wars. Sirens and merfolk evidently but there have been others. Around 1843, all of the oceans were taken over by one mega king if you will. The _real_ rulers of the five kingdoms got together to take back what was theirs. This lasted for about a decade. Oh! We got into a bit of a civil war with the Southern Atlantic because they thought it would be fitting to separate from us. That was messy, but clearly both parts are still a part of the Atlantic whole. There was a time a few thousand years ago where every kingdom wanted to kill the other. It must’ve been a real mess but in my opinion, it’s one of the most fun wars to read about. Yeah, we’ve got wars.”

“That’s horrible.” Louis grimaced. “Sounds like we might be in the midst of a battle soon enough if everything Aeron said is true. If she’s going to try to take over from the inside and… and then some.” 

“I hope not.” 

At some point, Louis had fallen asleep, resting his chin on Evan. He was tired from keeping up in the grotto and tired just because it was nighttime, and who knows _what_ time it was, really. They were riding and Louis apologized for being so sleepy. Thankfully, Niall was a gem and said it was fine, so Louis slept for a little while as Evan dragged him across the ocean. Niall had to push Louis up a little when he started to slip and then decided to just help support him all the same. 

Louis was out like a light. If the water and the rush from Evan taking him back home didn’t disturb him, nothing would disrupt him from sleep. It was only when, some hours later, Niall tapped Louis’ shoulder, and things came to a bit of a halt. Louis didn’t wake from that, so Niall lifted up a gush of water and let it hit Louis with such force, wetting him just about everywhere from the top and shocking him awake.

“Oh, for god’s sake, Niall!” Louis shouted, shaking his head and pulling his hair back from his eyes. He blinked a few times, hearing Niall’s cheerful, amused laugh from his left. Louis had learned from Harry that it was way too pointless to try splashing a merperson back. They would always have the upper hand, so he just sighed and shook his head at him. “Thanks for that, man! Yeah, thanks, was really nice, that.”

“Oh, come on, Louis.” Niall joked, elbowing him lightly. Louis did like Niall. He was so friendly and easy to grow comfortable with, easy to talk with once he had gotten past the nervousness. They’d gotten to that point in a matter of hours. Louis rolled his eyes with a smile and eyed him. Niall blinked at him. “Wait, do you really not see it? Look straight. Like…” Niall was suddenly holding Louis’ head to look straightforward.

Louis stared. “Oh. It’s a boat—it’s _Zayn’s_ yacht?” His eyes squinted as he looked a bit closer from where he was. On the sidelines, he saw a dolphin and another merman swimming along with it. He saw a familiar someone sprinting over to the tip of the bow of the boat, leaning over the railings to look ahead. “Zayn?!”

“Louis!”

Louis grinned, looking over at Niall. “Like I said, I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s safe. With what’s happening and how the queen had tried to kill you, you might not be safe even now in the water.” He peered down at Niall’s words, looking at the dark water hugging his body up until around his shoulders. “So, yeah, I guess Liam thought it best to seek Zayn out and see if he could help in any way. This is your stop.”

“Thank you so much, Niall. I really mean it, you have no idea.” Louis said, and was immediately hugged by the merman. He blinked, going stiff for a moment at the unexpected show of affection, but then he returned the hug easily, giving Niall a small squeeze. Niall was good people. “You’re a good guy, you are.” Louis said, pulling away as Evan started heading forward again to meet the boat. “If you’re ever around the beach, you should definitely try getting word to me! I really don’t bite!”

“I’m beginning to see that, yeah! You’re cool, too!”

Evan stopped at the back of the boat on the stairs. Louis pulled himself up onto it and realized, bitterly, that he had forgotten his longboard back near the grotto. He rolled his eyes at himself as he stepped up onto the stairs, feeling heavy from all the water that had soaked most of him. He looked up to see Zayn hurrying to meet him and Louis scurried up the steps to collide into him with a hug. “Whoa!” Zayn said, hugging him back quickly. 

Louis had almost _died_ again. That was too much for one person in their lifetime. He was safe now. He could go home. “Hi, did I worry you?”

“Shut up, Louis. ‘Course you did. I’m glad you’re okay.” Zayn said, rubbing his back before pulling away quickly, his face lighting up. “Come on! You’ve got to meet Liam!” Before Louis could even agree, Zayn was tugging at his wrist and dragging him off to the side of the boat where Liam was. Louis and Zayn leaned over the side of the yacht, holding onto the metal bars and smiling down at the two mermen. “This is Louis!” Zayn yelled, pointing his two index fingers at Louis, which Louis quickly smacked away without looking from Liam.

“So _this_ is the human who had managed to get our king filled with bubbles in his stomach day in and day out?” Liam asked.

Louis looked over at Zayn and softly smiled. “Bubbles in his stomach? Like butterflies?”

“I don’t think they’ve got butterflies down there, so it’d make sense.” Zayn laughed. Louis redirected his attention back down to Liam before nodding with a humble smile. He was definitely trying not to think about how Harry might still have ‘bubbles in his stomach’ over him… definitely trying not to… and that thought _definitely_ didn’t bring up butterflies in his own, either. Totally not. “Anyway, like I was saying earlier, this is my best friend in the whole world.”

“Nice to meet you, Liam.” Louis said. Niall then waved as well, seeing as he still had to be introduced, Louis gestured to Zayn. “Niall! Right. This is my best friend, Zayn!”

“Hi Zayn!” Niall exclaimed gleefully. Zayn laughed and waved back at him.

“Hey, thanks for saving his life. I’m serious, thanks so much, he means a lot to me, this absolute idiot.” Zayn said, sounding so grateful. Louis beamed over at him.

“Happy to do it, man. He’s actually an okay guy.”

Liam smiled gently. “Are you both all okay now? Can you get back to the beach—or, well, the marina—easily?”

“Sure.” Zayn said with a nod.

Niall and Liam shared a nervous look. Louis could understand. If their queen was being vicious and had terrible intentions to put the rule of the Atlantic solely into the hands of the sirens, then that might not end up too well underwater. Louis was a little worried about Harry, too, let alone everyone else who might have to experience this fight for power. Harry was on the direct other side of it. She was going to try to take it all away from _him_ , as if having it shared with him simply wasn’t enough. “Is there anything you guys need?” Louis asked.

“Need?” Niall questioned.

“Yeah. What with… what Jackie and Evan have told you and what I told Niall—"

Niall laughed nervously before looking over at Liam. “Oh yeah, Louis told me Aeron and the sirens are gonna try to take over the Atlantic all for their own. Sans merfolk in power. Getting rid of Louis might’ve been petty or because she’s insecure or worried because he might actually have some sort of possible way as to stopping her from usurping from the inside, too. So, _we’re_ a little doomed.”

Liam looked up at Louis with wide eyes, looked at Zayn, then back at Louis. “Why would they?”

Louis shook his head lightly. “Don’t know? I expect being exiled to border an island in the Mediterranean for centuries would only make them vengeful.”

“And they’re already a violent set of people to begin with.” Liam said gravely. “Oh, we’ve got to warn Harry.”

“Come on then!” Niall said, bouncing in the water. “There’s no time to lose!”

“Hey,” Liam said, ignoring Niall’s gentle tugs on his arms. “Listen, regardless of everything, whether anyone likes it or not, Harry _cares_ about you, Louis.” Louis swallowed hard, pressing his lips together into a tight line. “It was one of the most obvious things I ever did see when he came back from his journey months ago, and it’s actually obvious still after, and even just a week ago when he had gone to go visit you. However deeply he feels, it’s still there. That’s why we—Niall and I—were here to make sure you were safe. Our loyalties lie with Harry always and we know he would’ve wanted you saved if he knew what was happening to you.”

Louis let out a soft breath, nodding a little. He was trying to find words again. If Harry’s loyal friends could tell he cared for Louis so much, then it was all doomed. It was out there and Harry might never be completely over Louis. It felt so _stupid_ , because Louis could certainly empathize. It felt so stupid because they were only face to face with each other a couple of times. Louis couldn’t believe it and would never be able to grasp how someone could matter that much to another person in just a small amount of time, regardless of the messages they sent each other. That sort of stuff only happened with fate or soulmates or something.

Something in Louis punched his head to keep from thinking too far. He couldn’t allow any sort of hope with that. Right now, Harry and the kingdom might be in trouble, and Louis had to worry about that. “Well, thank you.” He said, giving them both a smile. “Really. I’m definitely not trying to die anytime soon. And—listen… I never meant for things to get so out of hand. If I had known getting close to Harry would be so consequential—emotionally and the like—then I…” Louis sighed shakily, feeling Zayn’s comforting hand on his shoulder. “I probably wouldn’t have let any of that happen.”

“It’s a simple human mistake, you’re forgiven.” Niall said. Louis smirked at that. “Even if we are _half_ human. It only means that Harry’s own mistakes were just as human. Heart wants what it wants, right?”

Liam nodded. “Right. Seriously, though, the only thing you need to do right now is get yourself back to the beach and back home, Louis. The ocean isn’t safe right now for you. If Aeron were to find out you were alive after she had tried to end your life, well… I can't even begin to contemplate what that would be like for you. So yes, get yourself _out_.”

If there was one thing spending time with Harry on the yacht taught him was that time was of the essence. “Okay. Okay, come on, Zayn. Let’s start heading back.” Louis clapped his hands together. “Yeah.” He looked up at the top deck and felt far too lazy to head up there. He looked over at Zayn and flashed him a large smile. “It’s your boat, after all.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re funny.” Zayn told him as he headed up to top deck. 

Louis sighed, far too exhausted for his own good as he looked back down at the two mermen. “Once again, erm… thank you. Can’t say it enough, really.”

“No problem. Louis.” Niall practically chirped. 

“I think, er, these two are going to head off along with you if that’s okay. You know, they’ll be able to make the boat travel a bit faster across the water and you can get back toward your familiar land faster.” Liam said, glancing at the two dolphins.

“That’s fine! As long as it’s okay with them. Yeah, I’m rather fond of those two.” Louis set his eyes on Jackie and Evan, receiving content squeaks from them both. It made Louis laugh a little. They were sweet. His head snapped up at the dark sky at the sound of rumbling thunder. He looked over at Zayn at the controls, who was also looking to the sky, too. “Oh.” Louis whispered, scratching the back of his wet head. “Fantastic.”

“Good luck with _that_.” Liam said before he dipped under the water and disappeared, Niall hurrying after him. Louis curled his fingers slightly to hold the back of his own neck as he walked along the yacht, following Jackie and Evan as they made their way in front of it. The boat started to move, and the dolphins only pushed it faster. It wasn’t as fast as it was when he and Harry were on their journey throughout all the oceans, but it was faster than it should go nonetheless.

Soft drops of rain began to fall from the sky, gradually increasing in pressure and speed. Louis sighed with a huff and hurried up to top deck, quickly hiding under the protection of the ceiling. He sat in an empty chair and used the heels of his feet to pull himself forward to sit by Zayn. “So, I almost drowned. Again.”

“Jesus, Louis.” Zayn whispered, pressing his lips together into a tight line before shaking his head slowly. He looked over at Louis, who smiled brightly and sarcastically, eyes alight with disbelief. “I was so worried. I mean, your shit was left on the beach and no one saw you anywhere! El and I searched for you literally everywhere, talked to our friends, _Carl_ even because you went off with him today to sell those fossils… no one had any idea where you were.” Louis frowned, his eyes softening from their sarcasm. Zayn sighed out raggedly and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Then Liam showed up… told me you were sealed up in a grotto that was filling up with water and that, oh wait, don’t… _worry_ , Niall’s gonna save you. Which was a bit of a relief but _still_ , you know?”

“I do, yeah.” Louis said, nodding sadly. “Honestly I was scared myself, but… but… thanks for coming?” Their eyes met for a moment and Louis’ crinkled with a genuine smile. “Definitely know what people mean when they say, y’know, ‘I’ll be there for you _any_ time’. Like you actually mean it.”

“Obviously, Louis.” Zayn said, eyes sparkling before looking straight ahead.

Louis sighed and stood up. “I’m gonna… take a shower. Are there any clothes in here by any chance?” Louis asked. “Might as well, right? I’m still in my wetsuit and I’ve been in ocean water for the past… who knows _how_ many hours.” Even if it was raining now, it definitely couldn’t hurt. He was sure he would feel very refreshed after showering, anyway.

“Yeah, erm… yeah. Found some of your stuff still from last time I guess. Feel like I should shower too but I’m mostly all dry from a dolphin dragging me to the marina some hours ago.” Louis laughed at Zayn with his head thrown back as he headed down the stairs, heading to the lowest deck. He breathed in softly, hurrying into the cabin he had stayed in. He searched around to find that he did leave some clothes down here after all.

He remembered Harry and him in here and it had been so blissful. 

Harry singing to him and Louis just… was so unable to help himself from kissing him right there. Louis bit his lip nervously, shaking his head from the memory as he headed into the bathroom to shower as fast as he could. Soft fringe out to play, Louis made sure it at least looked clean and smooth before heading back up to the top deck, feeling the rain hitting his skin and back.

“I’ve decided,” Zayn said, smiling over at Louis when he returned, sitting right beside him. “I’m going to take the day off tomorrow.”

Louis snorted. “No shit. What’ll you tell them?”

“That I’ve got pink eye.”

Louis shook his head with a laugh, his shoulders shaking along with it. Zayn in the meantime yawned and set his phone up to play some music. Louis unfortunately was still so very tired and almost passed out five minutes later, his eyes repeatedly fluttering shut despite him trying to keep them open. “I’m a bit tired, actually.” Louis confessed with a tiny sigh. Zayn yawned, which only made Louis yawn. “Shit.”

“Well, I mean, you can sleep, Louis. No worries.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to just, like, leave you alone.” Louis said, despite him already standing up again. Zayn smirked and looked up at him. “Thanks, Zayn, thanks.” He said, making his way down the stairs again.

He walked around the boat to go into middle deck through the salon, but frowned when something happened as he had been walking. Was it just him, or was the yacht slowing down? Louis stared out at the back of the boat for a few moments before hurrying over to the top of the right stairwell and knitting his brows together in confusion. He then turned around to sprint to the front of the boat at the bow to look down at the two dolphins, only to see that they weren’t moving speedily forward in front of them anymore. Both of them had seemed to curl in on themselves so only the tops were barely grazing the brim of the ocean water.

“Zayn! Stop! Stop the boat for a minute!” Louis shouted, running over to make sure Zayn was hearing him.

“What?”

“STOP THE YACHT, MAN!”

So Zayn did, but he also hurried down to meet Louis as Louis hurried back over to the bow to peer down at the creatures. “Something’s wrong. They’ve stopped. Why’ve they stopped?”

“They’re sort of in a weird position, too…” Zayn muttered.

Before Louis could even try to study and make sense of all this, the ocean started _shaking_. The two friends gripped at the metal sides tightly, eyes wide as they glanced at each other and all around. “What the fuck, what the _fuck_?” Louis hissed. Was this a possible thing? He didn’t know, but it was happening, and it was scary. Louis looked around again frantically, imagining maybe some horrifying monster like the charybdis was among them to disrupt their journey, but nothing exactly showed up. No large, sharp teeth rose out of the water to circle around them ominously. There was nothing hitting the bottom of the boat to shake it left and right like the serpent had done. There were no kraken arms coming up the sides of the boat. The ocean was shaking on its own and Louis and Zayn clung on for dear life.

Louis’ eyes lifted when he saw something shiny and brighter than everything that was dark catch his eye up ahead. It was rising, but other parts of it were joined, too, simply coming out of the water slowly and completely. Louis could only explain it in a way that it was _ice_. It was ice architecture rising up out of the water. Louis had never seen something like this in his life, but if he was being honest, a part of him wasn’t exactly surprised that this was happening. After everything he knew and everything he had gone through because of the ocean world, this was just… something to add onto the list of things that could happen.

It took a little bit to realize that these large pieces of ice were more or less thinner icebergs. Up on the tallest one that kept rising and rising into the air until it stopped, Louis saw that someone was _sitting_ on the top of it. “All hail Queen Aeron!” A voice shouted from the tall iceberg. The top wasn’t bumpy or pointed, seeing as Aeron was sitting right on it without a problem. It looked like the top had been sliced off for it to be flat and convenient for her. It overlooked everything below. Other raised pillars of ice came up, though not all were as high as her’s. Some were gigantic or small broken slabs covering some of the ocean water. Louis’ eyes widened when he saw that there were merfolk on the slabs of ice at the bottom of the raised iceberg pillars, seeming to be kneeled and bent forward… like they were bowing.

“What the fuck?” Zayn asked.

How could Aeron do this? Why was she freezing everything like this? This was a little bit too much, wasn’t it? Maybe she liked the dramatics of it all. Maybe she wanted to really destroy the marks of the merpeople that were embedded in the sea. Besides, if the queen was _here_ , then the palace might be nearby… unless she destroyed the palace, too, and decided to just make everything rise up in ice.

Right, no big deal.

“Louis! Look at them!” Zayn pointed. It was hard to see. They were a bit a way’s away, but they could see the merfolk weren’t only bowing, but they were bowing in the general direction Aeron was. They were bowing to her.

“This is fucked up, what is she doing?” Louis said. He gasped when something broke out of the water—a lot like how Aeron’s ‘throne’ seemed to have done already—and rose up halfway under Aeron’s throne. It was like a square prison of icicles surrounding another throne. Louis recognized that green tail anywhere, and he could see Harry awkwardly bowing down in the direction of Aeron, too.

Well, that was the sign Louis apparently needed to go ahead and do something stupid.

“Louis!” Zayn shouted as Louis climbed up over the bars of the yacht and dove into the water. Who cares if he just showered, right? “ _Shit_!”

When Louis was underwater, he opened his eyes to see the walls of the palace. _He was seeing the walls_. Except, they weren’t how Louis had pictured them at all. They looked like they’d been frozen, too, only to be shattered and ruined. The palace within the broken walls was a piece of icy rubble against the sandy ground. Louis was sure that shouldn’t be possible. Had Aeron lifted the invisibility spell? She had certainly destroyed just about everything, so this wasn’t too surprising. He swam up quickly and looked around before swimming towards all of the ice, ignoring Zayn’s calls for him that eventually grew too difficult to hear with all of the downpour of rain and ice breaking the surface.

In the midst of Louis’ swim, he was interrupted by a large beam of ice shooting from underwater, out, and at some odd direction. It had almost pierced right through him. Louis sighed with relief and noticed other strange, thick beams of ice were shooting out everywhere.

Either way, Louis was going to make it to Harry whether anyone liked it or not.

“Hang in there, Harry.” Louis whispered, feeling determination pulsing through his veins as he grabbed on—by luck, which he sure hoped wouldn’t run out any time soon—onto a slanted pillar of ice that kept rising until it stopped, only to jump down onto another one, making his way slowly towards the highest pillar of ice where Aeron sat on.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**H & L**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

“Now we just wait for humans to come along! They’ll see all of this no doubt, be drawn to it, we kill them, or they kill you, who knows!” Aeron shouted. Harry, who was bowing down to her against his own will—that scepter had a _lot_ of unfair power—lifted his head just a little to glare up at her, but it hurt his neck, so he continued looking down on the platform of the icy pillar he was on.

This was _horrible_. Aeron had managed to freeze _everything_ from where she had sat—and did a lot of destruction and redecorating—and Harry couldn’t do anything because all of the guards were… well, Harry hoped they weren’t dead, but just preoccupied. Although, even he knew that was unrealistic. He sighed heavily as Aeron started singing loudly and mystically. Harry hated her. He _hated_ her, and damn it, it took a _lot_ for him to genuinely feel pure hatred for someone or anything for that matter. 

She was winning. She had managed to destroy the palace, destroy the walls surrounding the palace, lift the invisibility spell from the entire Atlantic Ocean, and made ice come out of nowhere to come up out of the water where merfolk had no choice but to sit right on it. Everyone was bowing down to her. All merfolk, all sirens, and all creatures of the ocean. They had no choice. “Bow down!” She shouted, _cackling_. “Bow down before me!” She was actually cackling. Good thing, too. It fit her better than that false, sweet laugh.

Aeron was such a witch.

“The end is here for _all_ of you with fins!” She screeched, seeming positively delighted over it.

Louis had never been so happy to be human. He lifted his head up to see Aeron when she said that. He didn’t have fins. He had feet and damn it, he was going to make good use of them if it could help.

Harry couldn’t believe Aeron had said that. _All_ of them with fins or just merfolk? _Make up your mind!_ Harry wanted to shout, but he was beneath her—literally—and definitely couldn’t right now. His breath stuttered out and he nearly sobbed. The rain was hitting his back and it felt as cold as the ice around him. The wind was whipping violently, creating an almost unbearable discomfort.

And he couldn’t do _anything…_ this was it. It was over.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment, trying to take in slow, deep breaths. It was the least he could do, but he heard something that made him turn his head a tiny bit. Large, slanted pillar-like beams were rising out of the water horizontally and vertically, jaggedly, curved, and bumpy. They were all of ice and were simply beams bursting out of the ocean, shooting at every which way it wanted to around the icy area Aeron had created above water. It was like her own island, and within it, all the beams were trying to create some large dome all around it.

Then, he saw something he couldn’t believe.

They were swimming, and then they weren’t because one of those large beams of ice shot out in front of him. Another came up from above him, arcing, and then, Harry saw that he was standing right up on it as it soared through the air until it stopped. “Lou?” Harry whispered, seeing him jumping from large beam to large beam. Some of them made him almost slip, but his arms hung over them enough so he could pull himself up and jump onto another that came his way. Harry pressed his lips together, wanting to cry from both happiness and frustration. He was happy, over the _moon_ to know that Louis was actually alive. He sighed in relief at that, but he was also infuriated that Louis was _doing this_.

_What was he doing?! What was he thinking?!_

“No, no,” Harry whispered, seeing him coming closer and closer, riding along the beams, walking across them, jumping onto them like it was nothing.

Louis’ adrenaline was at an all-time high. Every time he got closer and closer to where Aeron sat on her high throne, he grew more anxious and kept thinking, _fuck it, fuck it, fuck it, fuck it!_ Louis jumped and jumped, sort of thinking it felt a lot like surfing, just with more boards that he had to leap onto as they got closer. The icy beams managed to take him to where she sat, high, high, high in the air. He was far too aware that if he were to fall right now, he would surely die.

When he was on an icy beam that stood still right behind her, Louis carefully jumped onto the icy platform she sat on that was wide, but not wide enough to be entirely secure. _Don’t look down, don’t look down, don’t look down_ , Louis thought, and he carefully got to his feet, standing right behind her before suddenly jumping forward from her side, snagging the scepter from her hands. He fell on his side right at her tail on the wide platform and exhaled slowly, relieved that he got _this_ far.

“ _You._ ” Aeron hissed menacingly. “Just what do you think you’re going to do with _that_ , human?” Louis turned onto his back and pushed away a little, only to feel that his head and shoulders were off of the edge. For it being so wide enough for her to comfortably sit, it certainly felt a bit too small in space right now. He stared up at Aeron as she glared down at him with a tilt of her head. “I’m impressed, little Louis.” She said, leaning forward a little. “You’re _alive_. You really do have friends in the right places, don’t you?”

“Back _off_.” Louis said through gritted teeth, aiming the end of the scepter at her. Aeron stared down at the end that was aimed at her before laughing, her head falling back for a moment. Well, that certainly diminished any confidence and courage Louis had. Why was she laughing?

“The wrong end, little Louis.” She said, her finger pressing to the end of the scepter to push it away from her lightly. 

Before Louis could react, he was reminded of how long a siren’s tail was. Her tail lifted up and wound around Louis’ ankle, pulling him up to dangle him upside down in the air. Louis gasped, holding on tightly to Harry’s scepter and feeling horrified for his life. She was going to drop him and he would plummet to his death. That was it. 

_No_. There was _always_ a way to get out of a disgusting situation. There had to be, like right now. Louis stared down at the icy platform. Her tail was _long_ … and the scepter’s sharp, pointed tip was facing down from where he was seeing it. Being upside down gave Louis the advantage now that the top of the scepter was pointed the right way. The scepter had two very sharp points at the top and Louis sucked in a sharp breath before bringing it down against the top of Aeron’s tail.

She shrieked and her hold on him loosened until he dropped right onto the platform. Aeron bunched her tail up in her arms to hold it and nurture it. Well, Louis couldn’t have _that._ He got to his feet, his jaw clenching in a way that made his cheekbones look as sharp as every bit of ice that surrounded him right now. He glared at Aeron as he stood right in front of her and she glared back, seething at him.

“You’re in my spot, you absolute royal bitch.” Louis told her unapologetically before gripping the scepter like a baseball bat and whacking her hard against the side of her head once, twice, and a third time. She cried out with every hit and Louis turned around, lowering himself to his knees to peer down at Harry’s pillar below. He was in a little icicle prison of his own and it destroyed Louis to see it.

“Louis!” Harry yelled. It made Louis smile with such fondness lighting in his eyes. He could see Harry’s equally adoring smile singing right back up at him.

“Oi oi!” Louis called back. “I think this belongs to you!” He said before reaching his hand out and throwing the scepter down like a javelin. It shot down right into the little prison through the icicle bars that were boxing Harry in.

“NO! YOU INSIGNIFICANT FOOL!” Aeron shouted, suddenly shoving Louis so hard that he fell from the top. Louis was falling, yelling as he did, falling from such a height that no human could survive. It felt like it was going on forever, too, and Louis wondered just how high up he had managed to get himself to, but he was too busy screaming, too busy knowing that he was going to die for real this time in a matter of moments, waiting for the cool ocean water to break every bone in his body once he collided into it.

This was really it for him.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**H**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Harry caught the scepter and simultaneously, the forced bowing stopped amongst all creatures of the Atlantic Ocean. Harry speedily broke every bit of icicle that entrapped him with one swipe of his scepter. “Never again,” Harry’s voice boomed as he straightened his back to be as tall as he could from where he was. “will the sirens leave Capri. There will be no place for any of you amongst the main areas of the Atlantic. And you will know to never, _ever_ underestimated me.” Harry said, fuming, pulse vibrating against every bit of his body. Unforgivingly, he aimed the scepter at a frightened Aeron and shot a burst of power at her.

He hadn’t really been thinking too much. He just wanted her gone. It seemed that the scepter took Harry’s wishes into its own interpretation since he wasn’t exactly… specific.

She froze in an instant, only for her to completely explode into dust. 

Harry’s mind was suddenly everywhere all at once.Was someone screaming? _Louis!_ Harry had killed someone. His people! _Louis_. The invisibility of the merfolk! The palace! The walls! _Louis_.

It was a bit too much. He had to _do_ so much. Right now… right now… Louis was screaming. Right now, Louis was the one who was most in trouble. Right now, he could make sure Louis wasn’t in any immediate life-threatening danger… but his people were screaming, crying on the slabs of ice below him, worried and frightened. They should be, too. Frankly, Harry was also scared as well, if he were to be honest, but he needed to collect himself, put away that fear, and make sure no one was scared or in danger.

Harry breathed heavily, trying to decide what to do next. “Everyone get back in the water!” He commanded, his voice loud and authoritative. He aimed his scepter at Louis, who was just half an inch from crashing into the ocean water and thought, _breathe, live_. Harry remembered far too well the morning after he and Louis had met, right after Harry had witnessed the purple sunrise. Harry had jumped into the water from the cliff and Louis had been terrified for him. Maybe humans couldn’t dive into water from such enormous heights. 

He had remembered that in an instant. He knew Louis would die if he hit that water without his help. Incidentally, Louis hit the water right as the power of his scepter reached him, so Harry didn’t _know_ if it had worked at all. He could only hope. He hoped, he hoped, he hoped with all his might that he had been able to reach him just in time. Harry raised his hands on either side of him and the scepter’s power engulfed all of the ice that sat atop the water. The ice melted into the ocean slowly and carefully.

Harry took the moment to finally jump into the water from his throne. He could see bits of ice melting everywhere, his eyes wide, heart frantic as he searched everywhere for Louis. His eyes rested against a familiar human who was motionless, hovering in the water, his eyes closed, and just… just not moving. “No.” Harry’s voice echoed as he darted over to him with such a desperate speed that he was sure he was straining some muscles. He almost collided right into Louis, but didn’t, so he grabbed his face while still holding his scepter and looked at him, shaking his head in denial when Louis didn’t wake immediately. _No, no, no_. “Lou—"

His hair was yanked so hard he was afraid he was about to be scalped. Harry was pulled back and thrown against a set of rough sea rocks, his back pressed up against them. “I’ve really had enough of you.” Simon hissed, swimming over. “I wasn’t helping the second half of my own species for it all to crumble all because of a _mere human_!” He yelled before grabbing Harry and bashing the side of his head into the rocks. The pain was sharp and blinding. Every blow had Harry yelling, his tail flailing furiously—

It stopped as soon as it happened. Harry’s eyes shut tightly and he waited a few moments before opening one eye, looking around. “Aaahhhh…” Harry groaned, holding his head, somehow still holding the scepter around curled fingers. He whined against his throat and sat up carefully, eyes blinking, to see _Gemma_.

She had stabbed her spear straight through Simon’s heart from the back.

“If I’m being honest,” Gemma said, her gills flapping madly from the adrenaline. “I never liked him anyway. And I was getting a bit tired of sirens saying we were too soft. What do they think members of the kingsguard even _do_?” Harry rose up from the rock to throw his arms around her in gratitude. She hugged him just as tightly, letting go of her spear and letting Simon’s body slump forwardagainst the rocks. She swayed their bodies left and right and hummed softly. “Poseidon, this was—"

“terrible.” Harry finished for her. “Chaotic. Messily planned and executed out.” He earned a small, sad laugh from her and he gingerly pulled away. “I think I’ve got my work cut out for me right about now.” 

“You definitely do, but…” She looked behind her and all around. The merfolk have gathered around where the palace and walls—which looked like a bunch of ruins—were, but they looked fine. This was only a handful of merfolk, too, only from this part of the sea. “I think… I think everyone’s… homes and shops are okay, if I’m being honest. The only real damage Aeron did was on our palace and the walls. If the highest of the upperclass are the only ones who have suffered, then everyone else is okay.”

“Is mum okay?”

“She’s fine, I promise. Now go!”

Harry smiled, looking past her to see Louis still in the water. “Lou.” He whispered, swimming away from his sister. Gemma spun around and gasped so loud Harry almost stopped to see what had happened.

“How long has he been in the water?” She asked, sounding worried. Harry appreciated that. Gemma didn’t know about Louis. Neither did their mother. The fact that Gemma was showing any worry because Harry was worried meant a great deal. “Harry!” She warned, and Harry _knew_. He’d been submerged in the water far too long. Harry swam up in front of Louis, grabbing his face in his hands again and speaking his name out in a human way, his voice watery and fuzzy as he did so, bubbles flying out from his mouth. His eyebrows creased with worry when Louis didn’t wake, but instead, Louis’ torso suddenly jolted.

Harry was reminded of a fish drowning. Louis jolted again and again, like invisible hands were sharply pulling him from everywhere they could pull at him from, and his body answered it with a convulsion. Harry wrapped an arm around him, feeling— _impossibly_ feeling—Louis’ bones against his back like they were broken, even under the fabric of his shirt. A second later, Harry felt those bones shifting as if they were fixing themselves smooth.

That… was a good thing, right? Was he healing himself?

“Harry!”

Niall and Liam swam up to him in a flash, drawing Harry’s eyes up from Louis. “I saw what happened…” Niall voiced, grabbing one of Louis’ wrists and letting it slowly fall, lifeless. “Was too busy _bowing_ to do anything… I swear I would’ve done something…”

“We both would’ve, Harry. I swear.” Liam told him.

Harry closed his eyes tightly. No, no, _no_. They had to stop talking as if Louis was dead.

“He’s moving… a lot—is he okay?” Niall asked. “Is he…”

“Looks like a drowning… fish.” Liam muttered. “Harry, you’ve got to take him… somewhere. Out of here. Above the water, at least!”

“I’ve got to take care of our palace and see about all the creatures in the ocean, guys. They must be scared to death over what’d happened… even if they’re fine or seem fine, I have to _make sure_. I can’t abandon everything!” Niall hummed highly as if to say something, but Harry spoke over him loudly. “ _Look at him_!” Harry shouted, holding Louis as he jumped in his arms despite not opening his eyes or… or _anything_. “There’s nothing… I can do. What I can do is go back and repair the walls, make sure everyone from the north to the south Atlantic is okay, fish and all. I can’t… afford to worry about Louis right now when this has just happened. What if there are homes and shops ruined that I haven’t seen, what if—"

“Harry Edward Styles! Listen to me!” Liam shouted. Harry shut his eyes tightly from the volume of Liam’s echoey, merman voice before he opened them again, feeling vulnerable and scared once again. ”Where do you think we came from? We’ve already been _around_. The shops are fine. The homes are fine. The castle itself… not so much. Your mother and sister are fine. From what we can see, merfolk are fine or will be, just having had been a bit shaken up. Fish, too—look!” A couple of fish passed them calmly. “They’re already going about back to normal. Any debris and ruin can be handled without a problem if you give us the command. Right now…?” Liam looked down at Louis, who was still jolting in Harry’s arms. Harry bundled him up in his strong hold even more.

“There is a human who fell from a very high height that would’ve been lethal to any human once their body hit the water.” Niall spoke. Harry let out a soft, echoey sob. “But he’s moving. It may not be too late and right now, it looks like everyone in your kingdom, both north and south parts of the ocean are _okay_. The only trouble is fixing up the palace and a couple of other fish homes, maybe, I don’t know? That and making sure the sirens are purely exiled back to Capri because _your word_ is law… that’s all that’s left to do right now. And we can do it. Liam and I can execute all of the orders to get everything back to normal. Right now, there’s a human in your arms who has done more good to our world than bad… _saved_ our world, even, from being taken over by a siren, and he needs your help to get to some sort of safety. Hey!” Harry looked up at Niall. “Go. _Go_!” 

“Thank you guys so much.” Harry told them both.

“There’s a reason a king has a council, Harry. There’s a reason he has a Hand…” Harry nodded up at Liam as he spoke. “if it pleases you.” Harry nodded firmly. Yes, Liam… Liam was his Hand now. Knowing that, suddenly, made him the tiniest bit calmer. “and… and every other ranking in his council. A Master of Whisperers?” Niall grinned, nodding to himself as Liam continued. “He knows everything that’s going on. If he says everything’s okay, then everything is okay. Furthermore… they’re both your best friends. There’s a reason a king needs people at his side, especially one as young as you— _yes_ , for the love of Poseidon, Harry, you’re only twenty-three. It’s too difficult for you alone to run an entire kingdom. Let us help you.”

Harry exhaled unnecessarily through his mouth. They were right. If things seemed okay enough for Harry to not be here, then Harry could trust them to take care of the rest. Louis’ life seemed to be the only one in real peril at the moment. Harry licked his top lip nervously before nodding tightly. “Fine, fine.” Harry said. “Yes, okay. I trust you both. Go on, then.”

Niall and Liam shared a glance with each other before they swam off in a blur. Harry looked down at Louis, whose eyes were still shut and body was still jumping in his arms. Harry held him tightly as he hurried off up to break the surface of the water.

“What’s wrong with him?!” Zayn’s voice shouted. Harry looked around to see the familiar yacht getting closer to him, Jackie and Evan moving it from where they were at the front. Harry didn’t want to _say_. Zayn was going to have his tail. “I saw him fall—oh _god_ , oh god, _oh god_!” Harry swam over to the back of the boat, stopping at one of the stairs. He glanced up as Zayn hurried over to the end of the boat. Harry hoisted Louis up onto it, carefully leaning him back against the steps so he could just sit there… but Louis was so still and lifeless that Harry was on the verge of tears over him.

He was so worried about Louis that he didn’t realize Louis’ shirt had disappeared and that the sides of his torso had slits for gills. He didn’t realize that his jeans had disappeared, too, but from his hips started something that weren’t his legs at all. Harry didn’t notice that from his hips down, Louis’ skin blended into something else, was covered in shimmering blue scales that melded into other cooler colors, but were mostly blue all the same. Harry didn’t notice that Louis had a caudal fin of his own that dipped into the water from where he was sitting and it occasionally brushed against the front of Harry’s tail as it swayed uselessly.

“Harry—“ Zayn warned. Harry lifted his eyes up from Louis, having had hoped his eyes would open, hoped that he would show signs that he was breathing. “I swear to god if my best friend is honestly dead, I’m going to kill you. And you know I’m fish friendly, so you better _pray_ —"

“You can kill me later. Right now, I’m going to move this yacht back to the beach as fast as possible.” Harry said. “It’s the least I can do. I need you and Louis to get out of this… entire area. It’s too much.” Harry told him. “Hang on. Just… a little more. Please just wait.” Harry begged, meeting Zayn’s fiery brown eyes. Zayn held his harsh gaze before nodding bitterly. Harry sighed with relief and held up his scepter to form the old bubble around the boat. He pulled his arm back and pushed forward, and the yacht was hurrying away with such speed that it was out of eyesight in seconds with Jackie and Evan leading it off.

Harry followed at his own speed. He was determined to meet the boat whenever he did, and only just then remembered he’d had the boat move to the _beach_ and not the marina. Whoops. Either way, it was going in the right direction, so Harry couldn’t be bothered to care so much. What he did care about was Louis’ life. Now that the knowledge that his kingdom was okay, that his people weren’t physically _hurt_ , he was worrying about Louis properly.

He hoped Louis was okay, prayed Louis was okay. 

It was hitting him exactly what had happened to Louis. Aeron had him trapped in a grotto in the Mediterranean. She had made sure there was no way out for him and made sure that the grotto would fill up with water until Louis drowned. Niall saved him. Liam… did Liam get Zayn? Harry was a bit lost after that, but then what he got was that Louis had completely endangered his life. Louis jumped up on large pillars and beams made of ice that had shot out at every direction from underwater. He did that. He jumped onto them like it was nothing. He jumped until he could reach Aeron, get his scepter, throw it down at him… and in turn, Louis fell from that height. He fell and crashed into the water and Harry tried get that burst of power from his scepter to reach Louis just in time.

Harry wasn’t sure if it had worked at all. He had been so infuriated over what had happened in the past few hours that him wanting Aeron _gone_ ended up with him blowing her up. Harry didn’t know his hatred could fuel up so much to turn into something murderous. Maybe he wasn’t as docile as she thought he was, even if he didn’t intend to _kill_ her, but just thinking about her had his blood boiling again.

And then Gemma… Gemma saved his life when Simon tried to bash his head in at a rock. Gemma wasn’t docile. Harry knew that now. He had always known it, too. All of the spear handling, all of the talk about her being a member of the kingsguard… it was obvious that she wasn’t as gentle as most merfolk—most _mermaids_ , even. It came in great handy, too. If Gemma hadn’t taken up using a spear, if she didn’t start dedicating most of her time to learning how to defend and attack with it, then he might not even be here himself right now.

So much had happened in such a short time that it was all just now really registering in Harry’s mind. He brought his fingers up to temple, feeling the bloody gash against his forehead. Hopefully that wouldn’t lure sharks in. He didn’t have time to face them. Not that Harry worried about _them_ biting his head off—why would they ever hurt their king?—but he didn’t want to correct their actions if they came along from the scent of his blood.

Sharks, honestly.

Harry sighed, feeling his head aching like mad as he made his way towards Louis’ beach. It was quite a distance—about half way from Capri island—but he was determined. Harry also couldn’t help hoping that maybe, just maybe Louis would be awake the moment he got there. Harry wouldn’t know what to do if he got there and Louis was still seemingly asleep. Even if he had been human a few times so far, he had no idea what it took for the human body to completely shut down. He didn’t know how long it took for a human to drown. He didn’t know how it could work if a human were to survive from almost drowning. He didn’t know what exactly happened when a human fell from such a great height into the ocean water—and when it was _raining_ , no less.

He didn’t know.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**Z**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

The dolphins had been making the yacht move at an impossible speed, even faster than when Zayn was heading towards Louis. Zayn figured this was how Louis and Harry made their way throughout all of the oceans in about a week’s time. He thought he should be woozy, lightheaded, barfing his guts out by now, but he wasn’t. He didn’t know how any of it was possible—especially since his mind couldn’t keep itself from going to the very probable conclusion that Louis was dead right now—but he was visibly _okay_.

How he was honestly keeping it together might be a mystery that would never be solved.

There was also the fact that he had carried Louis up by the armpits and saw that he was a merman. That had shocked Zayn a little. He might’ve almost dropped Louis when he saw that from the bottom of Louis’ waist and down, he was covered in a bunch of gorgeous scales that formed a mostly bluish color, which faded into dark greens, indigos, and deep purples, but were mostly all in all very blue.

Which, really, Zayn just wasn't sure if he could deal with right now. Couldn’t deal with wherever his clothes could’ve ended up, either. He just wanted Louis alive and _that_ , he was sure, wasn’t exactly a lot to ask, what with all that has happened in a matter of _hours_.

Zayn had Louis lying down on one of the sofas of the salon. He sat adjacent to Louis, watching him, and some part of him definitely felt a little bit creepy for doing so, but he just didn’t want to miss any sign of life Louis might express if he did. Oh, how Zayn hoped he did. He wouldn’t know what to do with himself if Louis was actually dead. Louis was so very important to him. Losing him would be like losing a brother. Zayn would surely never be able to recover from it.

“Come on, Louis…” Zayn whispered, moving to sit on the coffee table so he could pat his head, his shoulder, his wrist, take his hand in his. He felt for a pulse, but didn’t find one, and only hoped it was just _really_ shallow and would soon pick up. Louis’ chest didn’t rise up and down, either. God, what if he was really dead?

What if?

An hour later, Zayn heard the pitter-patter of excessive rain ceasing. A tiny bit of light was shining from outside into the sliding door of the salon. He looked out of it and sighed with relief. If anything good came out of this, it might be the sky. The sun was starting to rise. He took another look at Louis before nodding sadly and walking over to the glass door to peer outside. He could just make out the light coming out from the horizon before the sun would. It turned the sky a soft dark yellow-orange. Looking up, he could see the heavy clouds flying away, and he sighed.

Fifteen minutes later, the sun was peeking up and the sky was a mixture of every possible warm color. Above all, it was mostly purple, pink, and red. That was when the yacht had stopped moving all together. Zayn frowned, looking behind him to see Louis not moving still, and he headed out. He hurried to the front of the boat to see the dolphins had stopped, but weren’t still like before. They had just stopped. They looked up at the sound of his footsteps and squeaked gently. 

They stopped in front of the beach. Of course, it wasn’t right up at the shore, but it was close enough for anyone to swim to. Zayn saw Eleanor sitting on the sand with her legs hugged to her chest. She stood up and called out to him. “Hey!” She yelled, waving her arm in greeting. Zayn didn’t wave back. Even from where he was, Eleanor actually looked relieved and happy. “Did you find Louis?!” She asked, and Zayn sighed with a saddened frown. Eleanor’s smile completely faded away. Her arm lowered to her side and she stared out, looking in distraught disbelief.

Zayn felt the same.

The water splashed somewhere behind him. Zayn turned around and made his way to the back of the boat. Harry was at the end of the stairs. “Louis?” Harry asked, setting his huge scepter up on the steps. Zayn sighed and shook his head. Harry’s eyebrows knit together sadly and he brought himself up onto the stairs. In seconds, Harry dried himself up and a pair of green shorts appeared where his tail had been, along with a plain t=shirt with a rope and anchor design on it. Is that what happened to Louis’ clothes? Zayn rolled his eyes. It was all too much. “I don’t think they can push the yacht too much anymore, Zayn.”

“No, I know.” Zayn said. “I think I’m actually going to maybe drive it back to the marina. Erm…” The truth was that he had no energy in himself to be upset at Harry. His nose twitched lightly as he sniffled and he sighed out shakily. “Louis’… he’s… he’s in the salon if you want to see him. I don’t know.” He _didn’t_ know. Half of him wanted to believe there was still some sort of hope for Louis. After everything he had seen, why couldn’t it be possible that Louis was actually okay? A more logical part of his head, a much more cynical, human part of him thought that this was it for Louis. Louis had gone off to sacrifice himself for the sake of merfolk. Louis was too good for this world, too good for any of it, but that didn’t mean he could go and _die._

Harry hurried into the salon. Zayn went after him. He saw Harry immediately kneel down next to the sofa Louis was lying on, saw Harry’s fingers curl around the sides of Louis’ neck, his thumbs resting under Louis’ sharp jaw. “Louis… Lou… come on, Louis—" Harry paused, looking down Louis’ merman body and then up at his face, then turned to look at Zayn. “When did this happen?” He asked, sounding urgent.

Zayn scoffed lightly. “I’m not sure. When you sort of put him up on the steps, he was already like this.”

“You’re joking.” Harry whispered, looking back at Louis. “Like a drowning fish…”

“ _What_?”

Harry swallowed, looking at Zayn again. “When I saw him… still, under the water, like… like he had already drowned… he was sort of… kind of shaking? No…” Harry looked a little confused. “Sort of like… like his body was shocked every now and again. Like he was jumpy, but it was harsh. Have you ever had a fish? Have you ever… seen how they act when they drown? Fish can drown if they don’t get enough… erm… if there’s more water than there is… the other thing.”

“Oxygen.” Zayn said.

“Okay, oxygen. I’ll take your word for it. Well… yeah, it’s just what happens when they do drown, but then… then they can… they’re able to sometimes get better.” Harry touched Louis’ wrists, touched his hair. “He’s still soaked… Anyway, it’s what happened to Louis. He wouldn’t quit jolting in my arms and… and his back—I think some bones broke in his body but then they sort of fused right back up as if they were fixing themselves. Not slowly or anything, either. It happened really fast.”

Zayn tilted his head. “So what’re you saying?”

“May I take him?” Harry asked. Zayn blinked at him. “I just—I’ll bring him back to the shore. I just think… I’m not sure, actually. But… I don’t know. If you’re going to drive this back to the marina I can at least take him to the shore. If there’s any chance something could happen, too, then, can you let me?”

Zayn was wary, but at this point, he wasn’t sure if there was anything else left to lose. Louis was still motionless and for all they knew, he was already dead right now. If Harry thought some watery magic might help Louis come alive, then who was Zayn to say no? He nodded a little and jerked his head towards the glass door. “Sure. Just… just be quick. I don’t want Louis in danger of drowning ever again after today. I don’t know about him, but… I think that’s enough near death experiences for one person.”

“I agree.” Harry said before sliding his arms under Louis’ tail and under his back. He picked Louis up easily and headed out of the salon. Zayn headed out to make sure everything was okay. It seemed like it, at least. Harry sat at the bottom of the stairs and dipped his legs into the water. His green tail returned and his clothes disappeared. Zayn stared at him and Louis both. They were _both_ mermen right now. It was so wild to behold.

Harry grabbed his scepter before holding Louis again, then slid off, Louis still in his arms, and was underwater in seconds. He didn’t resurface, so Zayn decided to immediately keep himself busy. He headed up to top deck after waving over at Eleanor in a way that he hoped said he’d be back soon, and he drove the power catamaran off towards the marina.

He also noticed no one was around. Even if it was early morning, it was good that _no one_ was around. He hoped it would stay like that until everything got sorted.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**H**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Louis started convulsing in Harry’s arms again after a few seconds of being submerged in water. It was so unsettling to see. His torso was barreling and shifting, his tail flipping up, down, left and right, but he was mostly moving around his chest. It was like he was being electrocuted on some areas to get a reaction out of him quickly, but his eyes never opened. Harry was too afraid to keep him underwater for too long. Even if he was physically a merman right now, the transformation might’ve happened too late. He didn’t know. 

Maybe he should just head to shore and set him up on the sand.

Harry swam up to surface and turned around so his back faced the shore. He pulled Louis up with his arms hooking under Louis, and he swam backwards towards the sand, making sure that Louis’ head never sunk under the water again. It was a bit of a difficult task, but Harry made it. When the sandy bottom grazed both of their tails, Harry carefully sat down and pulled Louis onto his lap. Louis’ head leaned back against Harry’s shoulder, lolling to the side, and Harry tried so hard not to weep at that sight. 

There had to be something inside of him, as small it was, that still had hope. There just had to be.

That was what they were. They gave each other hope. If Harry let go of that entirely, then it was all for nothing. 

“Louis,” the dark haired woman voiced, hurrying over to Harry’s side, water splashing as she sprinted into it. “Whoa…” 

“Merman, I know. Lovely to meet you, are you Eleanor?” Harry asked, voice breaking as he looked up at her. She nodded quietly and Harry tried to smile genuinely. “I’m Harry.”

“Louis definitely left out the part that you weren’t human—or, well, half human—when we talked about you. I’m shocked… but Louis! Is he okay? What happened to him? Why is he passed out?”

Harry scooted up along the shore and carefully set Louis onto his back, half of his body against the shallow waves and the other half lying on the sand. He hadn’t even realized his own heart was beating erratically from the bit of workout he had from carrying Louis to shore. Harry sighed heavily and looked up at Eleanor’s face. He smiled sadly. “He… he jumped from a really… really high place. He hit the water pretty hard when he did, too.”

“ _What_?!” She gasped, her voice high as she clasped her hands over her mouth. Her eyes darted from him to Louis, then back. “How high?”

“High. So high up in the air. He was pushed off… of this area up… up in the air… and he just fell.” Harry softly laughed, but it was so full of sadness. “And then I saw him and he was… he wasn’t moving.” Harry bent his tail up a little, set his scepter down on the sand, and draped his forearms over the bent area of his tail in the same way humans hugged their bent knees. The shallow waves pushed past him and Louis, keeping them wet, and Harry wondered if there was ever any point to any of this. He wondered what was true and what wasn’t. He wondered why the purple sunrise still seemed to be the biggest lie of them all. He looked up at the horizon to see the sky bleeding reds and purples and oranges. Harry was bitter over the sight of it. It was a cruel irony.

Eleanor looked like she was about to cry. “No, but… but this is all magic now… there has to be something you can do, right? I mean, he’s not even human right now! He’s a merman. That has to mean… something! There has to be something else you can do!”

“I think the only thing we can do is wait.” Harry voiced. It was painful, but it was the truth. There didn’t seem to be anything else. The scepter’s power could only go so far, and clearly Harry didn’t know _just_ how far. It would be foolish to try to test its limits. He doubted it could go on about bringing someone back to life. If that could happen, maybe Harry’s dad would be alive. He grabbed it and aimed it at Louis, thinking, _come back to life_ , but nothing happened. No power even came out of the top of the scepter, either. Maybe it just didn’t do that sort of thing. Maybe that was its limit, just like he and Louis had a limit, it seemed. Their friendship, their bond, their _whatever_ … seemed to have reached its end. The blissful island of their bond had a sun that was setting, and it didn’t seem to be looking like it would be rising again.

“So… we’ll wait… and he may come back?” Eleanor asked, sounding like she was on her last thread of hope before she broke down.

“We’ll wait.” Harry repeated, looking away from her to look back down at Louis. It was a miracle that Louis looked the way he did even if he was motionless. Just concentrating on his face, Harry could say that he looked rather peaceful. His eyes weren’t closed tight, but softly, and if anything, he looked… he looked like he was sleeping. A tear made its way down Harry’s cheek without warning and he sniffled.

He remembered when Louis explained to him what crying was _really_ like. He remembered thinking Louis was falling apart when he cried, then thought the same when _he_ was crying over his father—a long overdue mourning session. He remembered Louis laughing sadly and telling him that they were tears that his body made when he cried. 

> _Seeing a bit of water pooling against Louis’ lower lashes was a bit terrifying. Harry didn’t know where they had come from or why they were coming out. When they started to spill so silently, Harry only thought,_ no, no, no _! He wondered what they were, wondered if Louis was dying, and he immediately held Louis’ face. “No, no, Louis. Don’t—what’s happening to you?” Feeling that drop of water fall against the pad of his thumb had Harry’s eyes widening with fright. “No, Louis, you’re falling apart. Don’t die.”_
> 
> _Louis then had made a sound that was something between a small laugh and a sob. “You’re the one who got eaten by a… whatever that was… and… you’re telling_ me _not to die because I’m crying? The nerve of you, honestly.” Harry had then completely froze because he didn’t understand how Louis was crying. Harry had definitely cried a few times in his life and nothing had happened like that, so he just didn’t understand, couldn’t answer right away, but then he felt like he shouldn’t have taken Louis’ face in his hands, so he pulled them back. Louis then wiped his own tears away before explaining it to him. “I suppose you can’t tell you’re… tearing up. When you cry, I mean. Like. In the water.”_
> 
> _“I never want to see you sad again.” Harry told him quietly._
> 
> _“I know. Don’t die, and you won’t.”_

The memory was so fresh in his mind. Just thinking about that conversation made him feel so very bittersweet about the present. _Don’t die, and you won’t._ Funny, that. Even if, yes, Harry wasn’t seeing Louis sad right now, it was Louis who was dying and Harry who was distraught over it. Funny that… that Louis had been sad anyway after that because Harry had withheld a very important truth from him. 

He remembered so much. 

> _“I’m leaking,” Harry said before laughing with a sob. “L-leaking salt water. I’m falling ap-part like y-you did.”_
> 
> _Louis took Harry’s face in his hands. His thumbs brushed along the skin under Harry’s eyes to wipe the tears away. “Tears, Harry, remember?” Harry had nodded a little and Louis cradled his face so sweetly._

He really wished he could turn back time. Things were very simple back then. Yes, even during the quest that had vague instructions did things seem simple. For instance, they were both happy to be in each other’s company without any sort of repercussions. Them on that yacht in the middle of _any_ ocean meant they were the only ones in the world. Louis had been Harry’s entire world for a beautiful week.

Actually, if Harry were to be honest, Louis was still somehow his whole world, but he knew other things were of importance to him enough to add them to it—his family, his kingdom, his people. They mattered just as much, but differently. They were all Harry’s world.

The compass had pointed home for Louis. Louis had wanted to go home and it did, but it pointed at Harry, who was swimming just about everywhere around the boat. That actually happened. Harry was struck with that memory as he looked at Louis’ arm, looked at the tattoo. 

> _“Can I tell you something?” Louis had asked him before pecking his lips._
> 
> _Harry loved Louis’ lips. Loved kissing him, no matter how chastely or how deep, he loved it already. He had completely forgotten what it was like to kiss Louis. He’d only ever done so that one time when they met, but this had been… so much more, somehow. He hummed softly and nodded, wanting to be so close to him—even if Louis was sitting on his lap right now—so he rested his forehead against Louis’._
> 
> _“Something happened earlier.” Harry’s eyes widened, intrigued already. He had hoped it was good news. “When I was trying to use the compass. To point home. I mean—by the way, I was playing with your compass earlier.” Harry laughed. He really laughed. The way Louis said it, like it was some nonchalant after thought… it was so funny to him. That sort of ‘oh yeah, by the way’ thing was so very Louis. Harry adored it. Apparently Harry’s laugh made Louis smile just a tiny bit. Harry liked that. Louis’ lips parted like he was going to continue, but he didn’t, and Harry’s eyebrows furrowed worriedly. What was wrong? Was it something bad? Harry remembered Louis looking down nervously and his tongue darting out to lick his top lip._
> 
> _“What happened?” Harry asked softly. He was patient, he remembered, but maybe if he had asked, Louis would tell. Louis did, too. He looked up at Harry and stared at him for a moment. Harry stared right back, feeling like he was drowning in those sea eyes of his. They were far too overwhelming. Did Louis know how unforgiving his gaze was?_
> 
> _“It kept… kept pointing to you, Haz.” Harry blinked and his eyes widened in surprise. His stomach bubbled with such excitement and anticipation with what that could mean, with what that actually_ did _mean. There was a weight with those words and it was touching Harry’s heart to the very core to know what that meant. It settled in him warm, comfortable, and soft. Louis kissed him again and then rested his head on his shoulder. Harry wound his arms around him even more than before and dropped his forehead to Louis’ shoulder, kissing it softly. “I mean…” Louis paused. Harry smiled against him. He couldn’t believe the compass believed he was Louis’ home. Did the compass even know what that_ **meant?** _“It’s a little… it’s a bit true, isn’t it?”_
> 
> _“_ It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside _,” Harry sang. He sang it because Louis’ words reminded him of that line of the song. It made Louis laughand he could feel it vibrate against his skin. “Louis I’m…. I love that I’m your home.”_
> 
> _“Home away from home.”_

Harry couldn’t keep himself from remembering the soft moments. He thought of them long, too, longer than he should’ve. He thought of how Louis felt and tried to remember every single tiny movement, tried to remember the sound of Louis’ voice and the soft noises that followed. He tried to remember those eyes that were so relieved and genuinely content. He remembered that he felt like he was on a cloud, too, just by being able to kiss Louis that way and be kissed by him in return even if he knew he shouldn’t have.

The sound of footsteps behind him had him and Eleanor turning around to see Zayn meeting them. He crouched beside Eleanor. “I have a wish—“

“They don’t work with bringing back people from the dead.” Harry said in a very monotonous voice. He just… why wasn’t Louis _awake_ yet? He carefully moved so that he was leaning beside Louis, bending his upper body down a little so he could just… take his face in his hands again. He lightly brushed the pads of his fingers against the sides of his neck with the hope of feeling _something_. “Louis…” Harry whispered, feeling the tears welling up behind his eyes. “Lou?” He asked, lowering his head and trying to see if he would wake somehow. 

_Nothing_!

His face felt like it was about to collapse with tears. Harry shifted a little again so he was able to lie down, half of his upper body over Louis. He pressed his forehead against Louis’ and closed his eyes tightly before he lifted his head up to press a lingering kiss to Louis’ temple, breathing out harshly through his nose. Tears started to stream down his face, as silent as Harry was, and they landed right on Louis’ skin, so Harry pulled himself to sit back up. He bent his tail again and draped his forehead over the bend to hide his face, to cry, to mourn because he was genuinely too sure that Louis was dead. It had been too long already. He was dead. This was it… this was _it_.

Eleanor was crying soundly. Zayn held her and Harry sniffled. If they were crying, it really must be true. Louis was dead. He was gone. He was _gone_. 

Out in the ocean, familiar heads rose up to look. Niall and Liam had come to meet them, but they stayed in the water, just watching. Gemma and Anne chanced being seen and rose up as well. Anne gasped and Gemma’s hand flew to her mouth. Jackie and Evan kept their heads up above the water beside them and lightly squeaked, but it sounded sad, too. Even the dolphins were saddened. If they saw it, then it must be true. Louis was dead.

Harry let out a shaky breath and whined softly against his scaly tail, his head hurting from crying so much. He breathed in and out deeply, but it was too much to hold back. He bawled into his tail, one hand coming up to clap over his mouth. It was impossible to not break down. _Louis_ was dead. Louis, the person who gave up so much for a kingdom that didn’t deserve his kindness and bravery. Maybe they did, but Harry was bitter right now. Louis was so great and so selfless that it was overwhelmingly morose to know that Louis would never be able to be this way again, that the world would never be able to experience such a wonderful man.

No one could replace Louis in any possible way. He was one of a kind and Harry was so upset to lose him this way.

Amongst all of the crying, amongst the sound of the tiny, tiny, ocean waves, amongst the sound of the gulls flapping around and screeching for attention and food, there was a weak groan from Harry’s right side. Harry’s head slowly lifted up, his tears faltering and his eyes full of confusion and shock. Some part of him was afraid to look to his right. Some part of him was sure that he had imagined the sound all together and that if he looked down at Louis, he would only be distraught once more.

Harry slowly turned his head to look down at Louis, wiping at his own face. Louis looked the same as he did moments and moments ago, unmoving. Harry sighed, but glanced down at Louis’ new gills to see them moving uselessly, like they were chasing something that wasn’t there. His eyebrows knit together, and he noticed Louis’ soft, adorable tummy rising up and falling, but it was so subtle. Harry’s eyes widened as he looked up to Louis’ face and saw his lips parted slightly, a sigh coming out from them. Louis’ button nose twitched and scrunched—Harry was reminded of the land animal called a ‘bunny’—and Harry let out a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding.

He shifted again so he was on top of Louis, their tails pressed up together, chests flush against one another, and Harry cradled Louis’ jaw. He looked down at him and heard a soft, high sound from the back of Louis’ throat. He felt Louis’ caudal fin curl up against Harry’s, felt the frilly tip lightly brushing against his own. 

“Louis?” Harry whispered.

Eleanor and Zayn looked up at he sound of Harry’s voice, eyes wide with hope as they saw the end of Louis’ graceful tail lightly rising and falling, the tips and ends meeting Harry’s tail with such delicacy, like it was a gentle, tender touch.

“Lou,” Harry whispered again.

He saw the lump of Louis’ throat bop with a swallow and felt Louis’ chest rise as he took in a deep breath. His eyes fluttered open so beautifully that Harry felt completely trapped within him for a long moment that bordered on eternity. Even after Louis nearly died, his eyes still managed to capture Harry’s so effortlessly. They held Harry’s gaze softly and he looked like he’d just woken up from a very long, long sleep. Louis’ eyelashes fluttered again—had his eyelashes always been so long and delicate? Was Louis always this delicate? Was he always this soft? Was he always this surprising?

Yes. Louis never ceased to surprise Harry. He was an incredible wonder.

The sides of Louis’ eyes crinkled as he smiled up at Harry. His eyes darted across Harry’s face before blinking gently and meeting Harry’s deep green ones. 

Louis spoke a word that made Harry’s heard flip, beat, swell, and explode with such fondness. The emotion simply poured out from his features, lacing his eyes with such an intensity as he smiled with his dimples on display. It was just one word, one name that somehow had Harry knowing that…that maybe the purple sunrise kept its promise to bring good in their lives. It was one name that had Harry _truly_ realizing that Louis was _alive_ right now, underneath him, smiling so much that his eyes crinkled the way Harry adored.

It was just one simple word, one name, a nickname that had Harry bursting on fire on the inside.

“Oh,” Louis breathed out. Harry breathed him in, just by being this close to him, just because Louis was alive and okay. He was okay. Nothing mattered right now other than Louis. He knew it, too, because Niall and Liam said it was okay. This was okay. Harry felt like his thoughts were incoherent as his heart drummed with such anticipation. “Hazza.” Louis whispered slowly, like the nickname was fragile and to treated tenderly, like it was just for them, like it said a million things and more that only reassured Harry of everything positive between them, like it was home. Harry’s smile didn’t falter at all, even when Louis hummed gently and closed his eyes, now truly falling asleep.

And Harry was flying.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for looking! As always, comments and kudos are much appreciated. <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Louis wakes up a day and a half later to a lovely surprise, and the surprise doesn't stop there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promised you guys a happy ending and maybe you guys can see why I cannot wait to start writing the fourth fic in this series!
> 
> Thank you guys for commenting and the like. It means so much as always and I hope you do the same for this final chapter and will stick around for the next three fics that I've got planned out.
> 
> If there are any spelling/grammar mistakes or if I might've messed _something_ up it's definitely because I'm actually going on a plane for a weekend vacation tonight! So I tried to get this up and at least pretty presentable enough before then. Thanks!

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

**L**

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Louis woke up an entire day and a half later.

He was sure he had never left his bed. He was positive he had been on his bed, asleep, for who knows how long. Louis definitely hadn’t been in the ocean at all in the past week. That’s all. He’s been sleeping. The images that ran through his mind all had to have been from some vivid, wild dream that seemed to be much longer than fifteen minutes. In just a few minutes, he would soon forget his dream since that tended to happen with Louis and dreams and… and he’ll get up and go about his day like normal. That seemed realistic, yes.

The truth was that he was so, so, so very happy to know that he was in his room. He was happy to know he could exhale fully, slowly, and without pain. His eyes opened up with such gentleness and they swept over his room. God, he was so _happy_ to be here, so happy to know he was just… just _okay_ , to know that the dream was over. It was more like a nightmare in some parts. Other parts were nice, but… but _man_ was it a vivid, horrifying dream all the same.

It had to have been a dream… right? Suddenly, Louis wasn’t so sure. Or… maybe he was about to forget it all together.

The door of his room opened. Louis looked over to see a tall person walk into the room with pointed boots, dark, knee-broken tight jeans, and a dark shirt to go along with it. Curls sat at the person’s shoulders, full and soft. Harry was in his room… Harry was in _his_ room. Harry… what was Harry doing here? 

“You didn’t put any salt in the water, did you?” A voice called. Zayn. Harry frowned, looking down at something he was holding. Louis saw a glass of water. 

“I might’ve… whoops. Forget you guys take your water without.” Harry said, stepping out of his room. 

Louis bunched his duvet up under his chin and wanted to make himself smaller for once—considering he always preferred to be tall, that was saying something. Sometimes he thought he was bigger than he actually was—but right now, he definitely just wanted to shrink away. He didn’t know why. Harry was a welcome sight right now. He didn’t feel upset or anything. He felt like a boy with a strong crush that he had hoped would’ve died away already. He felt like a boy with a crush who wasn’t ready to see his crush even though he was right here. He was not prepared. It was very unexpected to wake up to Harry. That's all.

Harry returned with a new glass of water. He came closer and set it on Louis’ nightstand, but did a double take to look at Louis. Harry’s mossy eyes brightened at the sight of him. Louis’ stomach fluttered. “You’re awake.” Harry drawled, sitting at the edge of his bed, facing him. Louis’ eyes were soft, but surprised as he looked up at Harry. “You kept my clothes.” Well, what was he supposed to say to that? Louis swallowed and ended up settling on a bashful nod, his lashes fluttering sleepily. Harry smiled at him and in a heartbeat. Louis was captivated. “Good thing you did, huh?”

“Yeah.” Louis whispered. He gave Harry a small smile. “Had a surreal dream.”

“Did you?” Harry asked. Louis nodded and carefully sat up to lean his back up against the pillows. He almost fell back and Harry grabbed another pillow to set it up right behind him. “Better?” Louis nodded again. “Water?”

Louis sniffed lightly, his nose twitching a little. “Sure.” Harry handed him the glass. Louis took it gingerly, staring down at the crystal clear liquid. “I almost drowned again… I think… twice. But… the second time was… it was kind of weird, really.” He said as he took a sip of water that he had meant to be small. The moment the water seeped into his mouth and swished down his throat, Louis felt like he was drinking the nectar of the Gods and downed the entire glass. He didn’t even know he had been parched. “Thanks.” He said as he set the glass down on the nightstand. 

“Sounds like a nightmare rather than a dream.” Harry pointed out, turning his body to face Louis even better. 

“Yeah.” He gave Harry a tired smile. “Jumped around, too. On ice. Hit a queen in the head a few times. Fell from a height I really shouldn’t have.” Louis laughed sadly. “Oh, and I lost my surfboard. Left it in the grotto I almost drowned in. That happened first, I think.” 

Harry’s eyebrows furrowed, looking like he was trying to read Louis, and Louis found he didn’t mind at all. He hoped Harry could read him, even. It’d be better than saying anything. “Why call it a dream when all those terrible things happened?”

Louis’ eyes suddenly crinkled as he smiled, looking so completely soft—more so than a feather, if it was possible. His hands sat comfortably on his lap and his fingers played with each other. Like a boy with a crush. “I guess, er… I guess because…” Louis shrugged, pulling his legs back to cross them and sit up straighter. “I didn’t die. That’s a plus.” He knew some blond merman named Niall had saved him the first time. The second time, though, he wasn’t so sure, but in his dream, it seemed like Harry had somehow saved him. His heart was dead set on that fact, actually. He didn’t know how, but he just knew that was true. “I think you saved me the second time.”

“Really? How’d I do that?”

“Couldn't tell you. Your guess is as good as mine.”

Harry nodded slowly, looking down to smile at himself. “I see.” he said. “Well, sounds… sounds like a really interesting dream, Louis.”

“It’s just… I thought you couldn’t feel pain in dreams.” Louis said, which really was maybe the only inkling that told him this very well might not have been a dream but was instead far too real. It was the only thing along with Harry saying that everything… had happened. “And I felt pain.” Harry frowned, looking worried. “When I fell, I think I felt pain, like I… I just broke. And before that… I could feel… the hurt or the discomfort of… holding my breath too much underwater. God…” He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, sighing slowly. “So, I don’t know how that could’ve happened if it was all a dream. You’re not supposed to feel pain in dreams.”

“Louis,” Harry began, giving him an apologetic look. Louis swallowed hard. “Do you want me to fill the spaces you’re confused on?” _No, because it was my dream, and you can’t possibly know what I was dreaming about_ , Louis thought, but he found himself nodding anyway. “May I?” He asked, looking over to the space in front of Louis. “Want to face you better.” Louis nodded again. Harry pulled his legs up and crossed his legs over the duvet the way Louis’ were crossed and sat in front of him. The duvet and single sheet were the only things blocking from his and Harry’s lower legs from touching. Harry was so close.

He wasn’t used to Harry being so close. He wasn’t used to accepting that it was actually happening. Some part of him was sure that Harry might be in trouble if he got close to him again—physically, emotionally, it didn’t matter. Harry, though, kept his hands to himself. He folded them neatly against his legs and sighed shakily. Louis couldn’t help giving him another smile, one that was more encouraging if anything. 

“So… so… you… you did, er… like, you jumped across a bunch of pillars of ice that came out of the water. Don’t know how you did it, but you did. And then you… the queen you talked about?” Louis nodded. “That was Aeron. So, you took the scepter from her, stabbed her tail with it, hit her in the head a few times, then threw the scepter down at me… but then she shoved you and you fell.” 

“Yeah. Sounds about right.” Louis said. “Kind of uncanny you know it so well.” He added with a bit of tired sarcasm.

Harry laughed softly. “Oh, I bet.” Louis beamed despite the worried traces on his face. He didn’t know why he was so worried. “So… I pointed my scepter at you as fast as I could. I thought… I thought something in my head. I just wanted you to breathe and live.” Louis nodded, appreciating that. “It didn’t happen at first. Thought you were dead for a while. Anyway… after being reassured the kingdom was okay, I put you on Zayn’s yacht and swam off to meet it at the beach. You still weren’t awake. I took you so Zayn could drive the yacht back to the marina and I took you to shore. I met Eleanor—“

“You did?” Louis asked quietly, happily.

“I did. She’s lovely.” Harry gave Louis a smile. Louis bit his lower lip nervously. “So… then Zayn came. And I thought you were dead. I remembered a few lovely things we’ve been through. They were bittersweet, sure, but… well, I thought you were dead. But then you made a sound and you were breathing and you were fine.” Louis knew now. He knew he woke up and was so… he had felt like the sun blossomed in his chest from seeing Harry above him, seeing the brilliant sky and light from behind Harry as Harry just looked down at him, holding his face like he was to be treated with such care. Harry sighed, drawing Louis’ attention back to him. “Then you woke up for a second, then fell asleep. I expect you were really tired.”

He was. “Probably.”

“Louis?” Louis pressed his lips together and raised his eyebrows, waiting patiently. “It was real.”

He thought it would shake him up to have it said to him. It didn’t. He knew it was real somewhere in the back of his mind. Louis nodded and let out a small hum-like laugh. He wasn’t the least bit surprised. After all, Harry was here in front of him. When things with him and Harry ended up _okay_ , tender, or sweet… it just sounds like a dream because reality blasted any possibility of realism with them both. For once, it seemed that it was finally real. “I know.” Louis said, his eyebrows quirking. “I know.”

“Good. And… Louis, I’m so…. I’m so happy you’re okay.” Louis was, really. He was better than he had been the first time he nearly died, back when he and Harry were on their journey almost a year ago. He was doing okay. “Never want you to risk your life like that ever again. I’d go out of my fucking mind if I lost you.”

“The feeling’s mutual.” Louis said, relieved they could talk like this. They were just two people who cared about each other at the end of the day and really… there was absolutely nothing wrong with that.

“But I’m simultaneously grateful.” Harry said, laughing, his left dimple coming out to play next to his smile. “She’s gone. I er—have to live with that now. I didn’t mean to kill her but I did…” He shuddered. Louis’ eyes widened in shock and he inched impossibly closer. “It’s fine. I mean… it’s not, but…” Harry shrugged with a tilt of his head, trying to pass it off as something that wasn't a big deal. “I just didn’t mean to kill her. I really didn’t. I feel terrible even if… even if I hated her… is that stupid?”

Louis shook his head, meeting his eyes with such seriousness and the closest he could possibly get to understanding it. “No, Harry. She… well, she was… always going to do this. She wasn’t a good person. You didn’t mean to. And… I mean, she _did_ mean to?  To do everything she did, I mean. And she tried and failed. You…” he sighed, his eyes darting across Harry’s face. Harry looked so full of regret and guilt that Louis could practically see it creeping up through him, consuming him. “Hazza,” Louis said, risking it all as he took Harry’s hands in his. He filled the spaces between Harry’s fingers with his own and curled them over the backs of his hands. “I don’t condone killing.”

Harry snorted and sounded like he was about to cry. “I’d hope so.” Louis brushed his thumb along Harry’s skin soothingly.

“Like I _really_ don’t condone it. But… like, it's fucked up. I'm not going to sugarcoat it. That's fucked up, but... yknow, you didn’t mean it. And…”

“I just aimed my scepter and wanted her gone… I don’t know how—“

“Adrenaline, Harry—and Harry, for god’s sake you can be a merman all you want, honestly. That’s what you are at the end of the day. Disregarding who you are as a person, that _does_ make you half human.” Louis said. Harry blinked at him. “Yeah? Or am I wrong?” Harry shook his head. “Humans… Haz, humans fuck up all the time. It’s not even funny how many times we screw up. No one’s perfect. God, Haz, humans are so stupid, too. We’re selfish and we’re… we act on our impulses and we… we…” he shrugged, looking up at the ceiling and nodding because he simply couldn’t find the words. “Like I said, I’m terrible with words.”

“You’re not.” Harry said, squeezing Louis’ hands affectionately. Louis could cry from it. “I’m listening.”

Louis’ eyes trailed up to Harry’s temple, seeing a wound that must’ve bled out at some point. “Humans bleed. Humans… humans feel. A lot. Humans… hope when… when it’s given to them. Humans dance. Humans run. Humans make mistakes. They feel a lot of what happens from those mistakes whether they regret it or not. Humans… laugh. Humans breathe. Humans… sing. Humans care about others… they can be selfish all they are but a lot of the time, humans are selfish when it comes to others. Like… like best friends growing jealous when they make another friend. Like friends or family not wanting someone to leave them because they need them and want them. Like… like wanting to be with someone romantically no matter how short lived it would be. Just to enjoy… that happiness that a person gives them? God, humans would do anything for that, Harry. Rage and pure hatred can make you feel just as strongly as happiness and caring can.” Louis gave Harry a soft smile and Harry returned it. “And it was a mistake as you said. The adrenaline is real. This siren had just betrayed _everything_ … of course you’re going to be _that_ mad at her in the moment. I don’t… condone it. I don’t forgive… _it_.” Louis said, emphasizing the second ‘it’, because he was referencing to something else as well. “But I’d be so fucking stupid to hate you for any of it, to see you in some different way when it all happened just because you are as human as I am and do stupid human things, too.”

Harry’s eyes closed delicately as he smiled and looked down. He pulled one of Louis’ hands to him to kiss the back of it. “It’s really just… hard, Lou.” He whispered. “Trying to do the right thing is _really_ hard.” His voice was breaking and _no_ , Louis couldn’t take that. Louis looked at him sadly and pulled his hands from Harry’s to immediately lean forward and wrap his arms around him in a warm embrace. Harry hugged him back tightly and buried his face into Louis’ shoulder.

“Trust me, I know that better than anything. I guess you can say we’re both experts at that.” He sighed contently because… because something in him knew right _now_ that it was okay to be this close. Right? God, who knows! Who cares! Harry wasn’t pulling away and had returned the hug so completely that Louis was sure nothing mattered other than him being there for Harry and Harry being there for him, too. 

“Are you okay?” Harry asked, pulling away a little and turning his head to look at Louis. Louis looked at him and nodded. “Promise? I just… I mean I remember… when I had to save you that first time and you… you were really scared, Louis.” 

“I know. I’m okay.” Louis said, finding he was telling the truth. “I am. I swear it. I… I don’t know. I mean, maybe I won’t be if I’m in front of the beach. I don’t think that’ll be the case, though. I just have this feeling that I’m _okay_. It’s shocking to feel it but I do and… and everything’s fine—even with us? I don’t know how long any of it will last…” Louis’ hands slid up to drape around Harry’s shoulders. Harry smiled at him. “but I’m a selfish human and I’m going to… enjoy as much of it as I can, while I can.”

Harry looked impressed for a moment, taken aback. His eyebrows raised up in surprise and he seemed _happy_ that Louis had said that. “Even if it would end—let’s say all happiness… and comfort… ends in the next second. You’re still going to enjoy it? After you… I just remembered you said something about getting your hopes up and stuff.”

Louis nodded. “This is true. But I also remember you saying something about how some hopes and good things, some people, some comforts, some smiles are only supposed to last for a set time. Some can come back. Some aren’t supposed to come back. Like… like fate, maybe. And I think you said it was okay if that’s how it’s supposed to be sometimes because it’ll mean a lot in a long run.”

“Are we talking about you and potentially being horrified of the water anymore?” Harry asked.

“Oh, come on, Harry, I’m trying to be deep and philosophical and I think those sort of things are supposed to be able to be applied in any sort of scenario but if you _must_ assume I’m talking about something else now, then you very well can.” Louis told him with a bright grin. “It’s also reverse… philosophy because you said it all first.”

Harry looked up, amused and seeming in thought. “Okay. Fair.” His eyes looked back down to rest in front of Louis’ with a gaze that said he was relaxed and comfortable. Louis felt the same. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Now that I know you’re doing okay, I can… can head back home. Always have to make sure they’re doing good, you know? Over there. So far…” 

“Oh, yeah,” Louis’ eyes widened softly. “How’s everyone with… with what happened? Oh, god, Harry, I swear if you’re here when you should be _there_ —“

“Hey!” Harry drawled softly and kindly, but his eyebrows creased a little, making him look offended. Louis smiled apologetically. “Of course I made sure it was fitting if I came to see you. As a matter of fact, after you woke up on the beach… I toldZayn and Eleanor to take you home while I head back into the ocean.” Louis’ eyebrows raised in gentle surprise. “So, take that as you will.”

Louis’ lower lip stuck out as he pouted sadly. “I’m sorry. I know… you said you were being… a very good ruler. _Are_.”

“I just get scared sometimes and there’s a lot that happens.”

“And you’re young.” Louis reminded him.

“Liam said the same thing. He said that’s why rulers have councils to help them out when it gets to be too much.” Louis beamed at that. “It’s hard putting some people in front of others and vice versa. It’s like… I wish I was in two different places at the same time.” Harry shook his head at himself with a small laugh. “Anyway, yeah. I’m… I’m going to head out.” Louis bit his lip worriedly. “Palace is being redone right now, so.”

“Can I come?” Louis asked. Harry’s eyes brightened up. “I mean… you know, I can… I can walk you to the beach if you want.”

“Are you okay to get up and move?”

Louis shrugged. “I don’t see why not.” He felt wide awake now, anyway. “How long have I been asleep?” He asked with a frown.

“A day or so.”

“And how long have you been here for?”

“Or so.”

Harry was so much. They were so much. They were able to say things to each other so simply and quietly that only they could hear, like it was nothing, even though it was the exact opposite. Some of those things held so much weight and meaning in them that it was overwhelming to take it all in. It was so much to know, but it was sweet to take in all the same. It only made Louis keep looking into his eyes with fondness blossoming over his features, a soft smile and soft hum accompanying it. Harry’s eyes were equally expressive even if they were laced with a tranquility the sea could only hold.

“Zayn’ll probably want to see you, Lou.” Louis’ heart swelled at the shortened name, having had missed Harry calling him that a lot more than he thought he did. “And… I think your mum and sisters have _called_ … like… on the cell phone you guys use a lot. They’re actually very convenient!” Harry gave him a soft smile and a nose scrunch. Louis licked his top lip and looked away before nodding, a secret smile forming on his face, and _really_ he didn’t know why he felt like he had to hide _this_ smile from Harry—even if it wasn’t exactly hidden too well. He could put more effort in doing so—but he suspected it had something to do with the fact that regardless of his calmed and blissful state, he still worried he and Harry simply couldn’t  _be_ _._ For all Louis knew, they still couldn’t be together that way.

Actually, Louis was positive it was entirely pointless, but he did it anyway.

“I’m gonna… gonna shower. Or something. Yeah.” Louis said. Harry’s arms pulled from around him and Louis got off the bed. “And… and then I’ll walk you?” He glanced up at Harry, who nodded with a delighted hum that Louis had missed hearing oh so much. He turned to his closet, opening it and finding that Jojo was trapped inside it. He bounded off the moment the closet was open. “Oh god,” Louis cooed, feeling terrible. 

“He got in there this morning!” Harry said happily, getting to his feet and walking off after him to pick him up and walk out of the room. “Hello, you.” Louis’ fondness was so evident on his features as he picked out some tee, shorts… and… he really wore the same stuff way too much. He smiled down at a particular pair of vans that Louis had to be thankful for—the spiderman comic vans. Oh, and socks. That was important, too. 

Louis followed Harry out to head to the bathroom. “Have you met… Poseidon?” He asked as they stepped through the kitchen. There Poseidon was in the sink again. Louis was sure it was his second sleeping area in all honesty—even if the water wasn’t coming out of the faucet. Louis supposed he was being smart and didn’t want to miss a chance in case he or Zayn used it. He was ready for the water. “Out of here.” Louis whispered gently, taking the kitten out of the sink and setting him down on the floor. Just as he suspected, it was a lost cause, because Poseidon was pouncing up on every bit of furniture to get back up there.

“‘Course I have.” Harry said, standing next to him. “He’s stubborn. The name is fitting.”

“Louis?” Zayn peeked into the kitchen, sighing heavily with relief. He got up from the couch and walked over, hugging Louis tightly. Louis dropped all of his clothes to hug him back, finding he was clinging onto his best friend, some horror creeping up in the back of his mind that for some reason had Louis worried he might never see Zayn again. “I’m so glad you’re awake, man. I told Harry I was gonna kill him if you died.”

Louis snorted, pulling away from him after a tiny squeeze. They got a good look at each other and Louis nearly bounced on his feet. “Now you don’t have to!”

“It was a real threat.” Harry voiced. Louis saw that Poseidon was on his shoulder now. It was the cutest sight he’d seen yet. “And anyway, I couldn’t exactly blame you.”

Zayn laughed, turning to face Harry. “I mean, I’d guess you feel the same about a bunch of fish that were fished out of the ocean after so many years. I sort of feel like I shouldn’t talk, but _I_ don’t condone any of it.”

Louis laughed as he bent down to pick up the clothes he had dropped. “Shining model citizen you are, Zayn. Considerate of the lessfortunate ocean life as always.”

“ _Louis_ , we are not less fortunate!” Harry gasped, sounding positively insulted. “Especially me. I’m a king.” The kitten on his shoulder meowed as if to emphasize his point. Louis looked up at him, seeing Harry’s hardened expression faltering as he tried to keep his straight face. Good, because Louis certainly didn’t mean to insult him or the ocean for that matter. “I’m only kidding, Lou.”

“I know.” Louis said with soft smile. “Hang on, then, I’ll be out in a bit.” He looked at Zayn as he started walking off. “I’m gonna walk him back to the beach after, okay?”

“Call your mum.” Zayn told him in a sing-song voice. “She’s worried about you. Can’t cover for you for too long, either. There’s only so many lies I can come up with to cover the fact that… you know.” Louis scoffed lightly over his shoulder and waved his fingers at him. He heard Zayn saying something to Harry as Louis opened the door to the bathroom that had Louis knitting his eyebrows to himself in curiosity. “So… did you tell him about… you know?” 

Harry shushed Zayn, but sounded too giddy to be ignored. “Not yet.”

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

“You’re _moving_?”

For the sake of being nostalgic, Louis and Harry had gone to the beach and immediately headed to the ice-cream stand like little kids. Louis bought a sea salt ice-cream pop for them both, realizing he had forgotten his phone whilst rummaging in his pocket for the money. They then headed back up to the wall and walked along it until they reached the oh so very familiar low cliff. They sat at the edge of it with their feet dangling calmly, their thighs touching, and sometimes Louis would gently bump his foot next to Harry’s, only to receive a small nudge from his foot, too. It tended to be accompanied by shared, fond smiles and tiny shoulder nudges.

“I am.” Louis said, licking a few melted drops that had managed to slide down the popsicle stick. “You heard Carl. After asking me how I am and all… asked when I was going to see that oceanfront bungalow—house—he’s got.” Harry’s head snapped over to look at Louis with large, hopeful doe eyes. Louis licked his top lip and nodded slowly before looking out to the horizon. “Yeah. It’s… it’s down… a little way’s away in that direction.” Louis said, pointing left. “It’s… it’s nice and sort of secluded, he said. Like it’d be my own area and stuff. The couple in there is going to move out in about a month, anyway. I mean… yeah. Why not, right?” Harry smiled so brightly but didn’t say anything. He returned to eating his seal salt ice-cream and Louis laughed. “You can… you can say it, if you want.”

“I can visit you easier.” Harry said. “Because you’ll be closer to the sea… if you move there, I mean. That’s nice.”

Louis pressed his lips together as he tried to keep his smile at bay, nodding slowly and looking up at the sky with such a fondness that was meant for Harry. He looked back down over at him and caught Harry looking at him already. Harry quickly looked straight ahead. They were just a bunch of bashful smiles and soft gazes. Maybe it was because they were on the cliff and maybe it was because of something else entirely.

“Louis?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you… are you still mad at me?” Louis’ heart shattered at how disappointed Harry sounded in himself—even if _technically_ he should be, but Louis still didn't like hearing his voice like that. He frowned at Harry. “I’m—I don’t know. If you don’t want to see me anymore. I don’t know—“

“Harry, of course I want to see you.” Louis shrugged. “I… I can’t pretend that I don’t. Like I said… you know, before… I’m not going to forgive you but I completely understand you. With everything I’ve got, really. Haz…” Louis whispered, leaning over to rest his chin on Harry’s shoulder. Harry looked down at him and immediately beamed, any sadness leaving his features. “If it’s okay with you. I’d like to still… yeah. I’d like to still see you. Whenever I can, too. I know you’re a busy king and all.”

Honestly, Louis… Louis was slowly and surely truly accepting that he and Harry couldn’t be together romantically. They were from two separate worlds and Harry simply couldn’t spend too much time up on land with his royal duties, right? Fine, really, but… but Harry was far too important to let go all together. Louis’ life was a bit grayer without him. Harry was just that person who was very charming, polite, overall sweet… and a unique being who couldn’t be replaced.

Harry looked peaceful as Louis looked up at him. His smile was subtle and his eyes looked like they were about to close from relaxing. Louis buried his face into the side of Harry’s shoulder because of the gaze Harry was giving him. He couldn’t help the way Harry made him feel. It was hard to pretend like it didn’t happen, but… well, it was much more effort to pretend that than not, and it wasn’t like Harry didn’t know or anything. They could be friends. It would be hard to stop acting like a kid with a mutual crush, but it could happen.

“Should eat your ice-cream, Harry.” Louis muttered against Harry’s shirt. 

“So should you.” 

Louis smiled uncontrollably against the fabric. He lifted his head and sat up straight again, lifting the cool treat up to his mouth to lick away at. “Okay, then.” He could see two familiar dolphins jump into the air far out in the sea. “I love those two.”

“They told me a few days ago—before this all happened, after I came to visit you, obviously—that they are... expecting.” 

Louis’ eyes widened as he looked at Harry. “No way!” Harry nodded happily. “Shut up! That’s incredible! Happy for them. They’re so awesome. So Jackie’ll give birth in about a year, right?” Louis asked.

“That’s right.” Harry was finished with his popsicle and stood up. “I’m gonna... toss this somewhere, don’t want it in the ocean.” He said. Louis nodded in understanding, getting to his feet and wincing when he tried to rush his eating of his ice-cream, feeling the freezing cold creep up from his teeth and through his head. “You okay, Louis?” Harry asked when Louis hissed lightly.

“It’s cold.”

“I thought that was obvious.” Harry said with the most exaggerated sarcasm Louis had ever heard, which only made Louis laugh.

“ _Wow_ , look at you! Cheeky. Oh, here.” He said, pointing to a waste bin they could toss their popsicle sticks in. Harry hurried over to throw his inside while Louis took his time, still trying to finish much of his treat before deciding he had definitely had a decent amount of it to throw out. “So, Liam’s your new Hand now, right? What about the rest of your council?” Louis asked.

“Right. The rest of my council is Niall so far and mum. The rest have been vanquished since they knew of the sirens wanting to take over the kingdom. There are others I trust like Ed… he’s always been good at handling currency, so… so that’s a thing maybe. Gemma… Gemma I’m actually considering because I need people I _trust_. And Gemma—well, Gemma saved my life. And I know she’s good at a spear. Lady Commander might be a thing, but that would mean she would be stripped of her princess title.”

Louis knit his eyebrows together. “Would she _mind_ if it was taken away from her?”

“I don’t _think_ so, but… it’s still a lot to give up. Not that she’ll, you know, have to _move_ or something. She just won’t be of such a high rank in the palace.”

“Oh yeah! How’s that going? Where’s everyone living right now?”

** (A/N; I might've been listening to [Christina Perri's  _Arms_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlhQghmuMf8) while writing this part out) **

Harry laughed as they walked towards the rocky pathway. “We’re actually residing in Atlantis while the palace is, ah… rebuilt, sort of. So right now I’m pretty far away from where I should be, but… it’s no real problem. I go when I can to help out on my own. There’s a difference in… telling people to do stuff for you because you can… and… and doing that, but also taking on some of the work, too. I feel like… it’s the least I can do, anyway. I like being a leader better than just sitting and ruling on my tail with commands flying out of my mouth.”

That was touching. Louis nodding approvingly at Harry’s views on what being a _leader_ meant rather than being a _ruler_. He could see that they were two different things, especially when Harry put it like that. “I like that. You’re so good, Haz. You’re so fucking selfless—ah ah ah.” Louis said as Harry walked along the tops of the rocks and spun around to face Louis, opening his mouth to say something. Louis wasn’t having that, wasn't about to have Harry deny his good qualities because he was modest. He stepped up easily and held a finger out at him. “No. I mean it. Selfishness and selflessness can both occur within a person. If you want my opinion,” Louis said, giving Harry a mischievous smile for a reason he certainly didn’t know. What was shocking was that Harry gave him one right back as he walked backwards slowly every time Louis took a step forward. “you’re much more selfless than you are selfish.”

“You flatter me.” Harry said in an impossibly much more posh tone of voice than he already had. Louis’ eyebrows raised and he jumped forward, nearly scaring Harry enough for him to almost lose balance and fall into the water. Harry wasn’t new at being on legs anymore, though, and he caught himself quickly. “Anyway, if I hold you to the same standards as my family, my kingdom, and my people, then you could say I’m equally selfish and selfless. My selfishness just happens to be reserved for you.”

“It’s mutual.” Louis said, stopping just as Harry stood at the edge of the rocky pathway. He sighed and gave Harry a more lopsided smile. “You’d best get going, then, yeah?” Which… which could be interpreted as, _Stay_ , but Louis couldn’t possibly ask that of him. He also did understand others mattered, of course, but like he said… he was only ever really selfish when it came to Harry. It was a very human thing.

“I guess.” Harry said quietly. Louis stepped a tiny bit closer to slide his arms around Harry to hug, pressing his face into his shirt. Strong arms wrapped around his tiny frame without hesitation and Louis was on the verge of melting in them. He really understood what people meant when they said they melted. It was impossible not to. He breathed Harry in deeply and exhaled slowly before resting his chin up on his shoulder. Harry squeezed him lightly before pulling away and turning around to dive into the ocean water.

The splash was light and some drops landed on Louis’ skin. It tended to always happen, and like always, it didn’t bother him at all. He looked down as Harrys head poked up and his hands pushed his dark curls out of his face. Louis was standing firmly and there was no way he could fall, but suddenly, he was wobbling and braced himself when he fell face forward into the water with a shout, barely able to catch the excited, mischievous gaze in Harry’s eyes before water engulfed him for what felt like the billionth time.

Louis was holding his breath, but it wasn’t getting tight in his chest with every second that passed. It just… wasn’t happening. It wasn’t hurting from such intense discomfort. His eyes opened slowly, and he was shocked to find that the salty water didn’t sting his eyes. If it was possible, he was seeing clearer underwater, too. He certainly didn’t miss Harry’s elegant self swimming over to him in the most breathtaking way. 

Maybe it was the fact that Harry _looked_ beautiful already, but he looked Godly in his own environment. He was practically _glowing_. His eyes were much more vibrant and his hair was so soft, flowing around and behind him slowly. He really had _never_ seen Harry this way other than the one time when they had been riding the dolphins through the water, but Louis had been too distracted in seeing the beautiful ocean world with the limited time he had due to needing to breathe. Louis stopped unnecessarily holding his breath from his nose’s airways and found that he wasn’t breathing in water through his nostrils at all. It was like something in him knew _not_ to, but was just as automatic and subconscious as breathing air. 

How was this _possible_?

Louis’ back was up against the rocks and he was sitting down at the sandy bottom. Harry was in front of him and he looked down at Louis with such an excited grin. He saw his mouth move to form his name, “Lou,” and his voice came out watery. Louis stared at him, wondering why it was so easy to be _right here_ when he should be freaking out, probably, should be swimming up to the surface for breath, but it didn’t happen. Louis only followed Harry’s gaze and looked down at himself.

Where his legs had been was a mostly blue merman tail. Louis’ eyes widened and he yelled, “Whoa!” so loud that bubbles flew past his mouth. He pressed the palms of his hands onto his… his lap? Sure, his lap, and he felt the familiar, slimy texture of the scales. The colors of his tail were so… wow, they were _pretty_ , actually, bleeding into other colors with blue undertones. His caudal fin was semi transparent and had lacy frills at the ends that curled. It was funny, too, because he didn’t _feel_ like he was missing the bipedal movement of his feet, his legs. He didn’t feel like his legs were trapped in some suit. He felt like this was how his lower half should be like, comfortable and strong. He curled his caudal fin up and then down, then pulled his tail up the same way he would usually bend his legs before he straightened it again.

Louis peered at the skin at his waist where it blended into the scales. It was real. He twisted his torso a little so he could see his sides. He carefully touched the slits of his new gills that were working calmly and steadily without any conscious effort of his own. Louis was… Louis was _really_ breathing right now. He was really… he was… 

He was a merman.

Louis looked up to see Harry looking at him, studying every reaction Louis was having to discovering he wasn’t _all_ human anymore. His eyes darted across Harry’s face with a question he didn’t know how to voice. His mouth opened as if he were about to speak it, but he closed it quickly, blinking rapidly with such confusion and shock clouding his mind.

Harry smiled and lowered himself right onto Louis’ lap, his tail lacing behind Louis's back. Louis could feel Harry’s tail touching his skin, could feel Harry’s tail touching his own, and he didn’t mind at all, but he could feel his heart pounding like a drum against his chest. Harry’s hands flew to cup Louis’ face. He felt like it was the longest second he ever endured, just looking at Harry with such large eyes before Harry’s mouth covered his own. His eyes widened even more because… because this was _really_ happening… but Harry’s mouth was a familiar feeling that he had been void of for so long that his eyes slowly fluttered closed as he kissed him back carefully.

He guessed he could cross off being kissed underwater.

Louis hummed against his throat, the sound vibrating through the water, passing through Harry’s lips, and he suddenly remembered how to move. One hand flew to hold the dip of Harry’s waist and pull him closer, the other lacing though his curls on he back of his head. Harry parted Louis’ lips like he was delicate, and Louis let him. He let Harry’s tongue slide into his mouth, massaging his own with it as their lips slowly sucked and parted with every new kiss. It seemed merfolk _really_ treated kissing like an art that should be handled tenderly. Or… or maybe that was just Harry and how Harry kissed him, like Harry really wanted to savor that feeling. The thought of that had Louis’ eyebrows quirking. Everything had so much emotional weight with him. It was in a good way, too, the kind that Louis would gladly accept and even ask for.

It was a kiss that spoke things apologies couldn’t, a kiss that was to make up for the past ten months or so from _not_ , a kiss that had Louis believe that if he _fell_ or _sunk_ or _melted_ , it would be okay because Harry was somehow going to be right there to catch him. It was a kiss to reassure mutual feelings that still went strong towards each other, a kiss that… that promised only good to come after this. 

Harry pulled away and Louis chased his lips to press a small kiss to his top lip. He let out a small giggle from that. Louis opened his eyes to look at Harry, shaking his head slowly in awe and a disbelief he knew was pointless because after everything, this was actually pretty tame and _normal_. “God, I can’t believe I’ve gone almost a year without you.” said Louis, but no words had come out of his mouth when he did say it. His mouth didn't even move at all other than lifting the corners in a small smile. It didn’t even _sound_ like words, really. Louis was reminded of when Harry and him met and Harry made his own sort of sound before speaking in human English. 

It was like that, how it came out of him. It felt like a soft, even musical hum that echoed, with the watery tap-like sounds and everything. It sounded like silver, mystical and flowing. Louis understood himself, too. He even knew how to make that sort of sound even if he couldn’t explain it for the life of him. He just knew. He blinked at Harry with confusion and Harry laughed. “That’s something we do.” Harry said. Louis’ eyes widened because he could _understand_ Harry, too. Harry seemed like he was trying to keep from screaming from excitement. Louis wished he didn’t. “We can pass languages… through kisses.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?” Louis asked, tilting his head at him. Harry so cutely tilted his the opposite way and they both giggled.

“Not anymore.” Harry said, and Louis had to keep himself from thinking about what that could mean because he shouldn't assume things. Harry looked up as a tiny fish swam above him. Louis followed his gaze with an admiration he only really had around Harry… or under the sea, apparently. He was _breathing_. He was a _merman_. He could be here for as long as he wanted with all technicality. Harry’s mystical hum drew Louis’ attention back to him. “What are you thinking?”

Louis exhaled through his mouth with a sigh. “I…” what _was_ he thinking? He licked his top lip and kept his mouth closed. He wasn’t sure if he had been this at peace in a long time. He dug his fingers into the sand beside him, saw tiny, tiny critters crawl out and back into it, saw other small critters swim past them without a bother. The ocean floor only grew steeper if he were to go further out… and he’d see that _beauty_ again… he’d be able to see the ocean again without limits. “I never thought I’d be able to be here. It’s a little overwhelming. In a nice way, too.”

“Would you like to see more?” With eyes wide and a quiet nod, Louis’ heart skipped a beat with excitement, with anticipation. Harry lifted off of him easily, but took one hand in his. Louis folded his fingers over the back of Harry’s from the side and gave his hand a small squeeze before he was suddenly pulled up. He took a sharp breath in through the mouth, which was really just a bunch of water and very unnecessary. Right, he had to move his tail. He peered down to see the tip of his caudal fin brushing against the sandy floor, thankful that he didn’t have an issue with what muscles to use to do… _whatever_ he had to do. “How’s that going for you?”

“Shut up, I've only been in here for a few minutes and you were in the same boat last time when you first got your…” Louis looked confusedly at Harry, but only because he was trying to see how in the hell he was supposed to move himself into a more _horizontal_ position than a vertical one. Harry was already hovering on his back like a pro and Louis was awkwardly trying to shift and do the same. “Yeah, no wonder you’re so fit. Using all those upper muscles as much as you use your _tail_.”

Harry smiled smugly. “That’s one thing about being a merperson, Lou.” He said, and Louis sighed in relief when he finally floated on his stomach instead. It wasn't as easy doing so without legs where kicking them both helped the most. Harry tugged on his hand and pulled him away, but slowly. Louis pressed his lips together into a tight line. “Arms, torso, tail. Not always in that order, but they work together to do everything. Work from the top down— _perfect_. See? You’ve got it.” Louis beamed at Harry’s praise. Harry moved so easily in the water that it seemed like it didn’t take much thought at all. Louis on the other hand felt like he was in physical therapy to strengthen himself. “Swimming straight is one thing, obviously, but you need to keep upright with your torso, Lou. Like—okay.” Louis bit his lip nervously as Harry took his hand out from his. Harry swam right underneath him so Louis was peering down at him, almost pressing their bodies together, but not quite. “Stay.” He laughed as Louis nearly made to move upwards. He held Louis’ sides at the dips of his waist, but his thumbs pressed up along the front of his tummy. Louis tried not to think about how Harry’s hands made his skin feel like it was on fire. “All your tattoos. I’ve never seen all of them—well, I might’ve when I saved you because _that’s_ when I found out you were a merman.” 

Louis shook his head with a fond smile, unsure of exactly where to keep his arms, so he kept them stiff at his sides. “You were probably about to burst from keeping this secret until now.”

“I almost caved and told you. Wanted it to be a fun surprise.”

“You have to tell me how this happened. I’ve got a feeling there’s more to your side of what happened.” 

Harry grinned up at him and nodded. “I’ll tell you. But first…” _God_ , Louis had only realized now—or just realized again—how big Harry’s hands were. They held him like he was small and delicate, but Harry’s thumbs brushed against the soft sides of his abdomen. Louis tightened his tummy. “Good. Move your tail. Up and down, then up again, but keep _yourself_ up. Pretend there’s a wave trying to carry you, but it only carries you where your tail is. And so you can properly line up with it—okay, _no_ , Lou, don't fucking _bob_ your upper body, that's fucking weird. Your tail is what moves you throughout, your upper body keeps you straight.” Harry told him. Louis looked at him worriedly, shyly. He was afraid he’d be bad at it all. He curled his caudal fin up and down nervously and Harry glanced down between them. “Don’t be nervous, Lou. It’s okay. You’ll do fine.”

“So…” Louis said as he pushed his shoulders back, straightening even more before he moved in place—and where else was he going to go? Harry was holding him gently but securely. It _was_ something to get used to, actually. It was no picnic, either. “What, can’t I use my arms to push through the water to… to move? Like, humans use their arms to swim, too. Why can't merpeople do the same?” Louis asked. Harry’s eyes glanced down from him for a second before looking back to meet his eyes. “What?”

“You’re really curvy. Especially like this. No clothing to hide how actually incredible you look. Stop touching my tail, you’re gonna get me excited.” Harry laughed softly with the last sentence, his tail slapping Louis’ when it came down to brush against his. Louis raised an eyebrow, curiosity stemming in his chest. “That’s for another time.”

“Really?” Louis asked, feeling like he was actually having a bit of a workout. Harry’s thumbs dug lightly into his skin and his hands guided his back straighter whenever Louis got lazy. “All right, all right, I hear you.” Louis whispered.

“Really. And—good. Yeah. Posture’s everything.” Louis hummed happily before clapping his hand over his mouth as a giggle came out. Harry’s dimple made a lovely appearance and he leaned up without even moving his lower half at all, only to brush his lips up against Louis’ so softly. Louis didn’t know if it was from the slight chill of the ocean water or because Harry was so confident right now in his element, but an excitable chill ran down his spine. Harry’s lips were so soft and full, even with the smallest touch. “And I’m staying right where I am, see? I'm not floating up into the surface or sinking down to the floor. I'm right here. And so are you.”

“Buoyancy.” Right. Louis had been trying to find the word this whole time. Harry was so fucking distracting. “I see.”

Harry looked Louis up and down again with a look that he was sure he’d only seen once before. Louis slightly raised his eyebrows at him and Harry, suggestive, just because he could do that, too. Of course he could. But Harry was looking at him like that and they had tails and Louis was sure he knew a minuscule amount about merfolk when it came to everything else in comparison. Harry broke into warm laughter and took his hand again quickly. “Stay. I think you’ve got the gist of it.”

“Oh, good.” Louis said, his echoey, watery hum trembling slightly. Harry gave him a look that said he knew far too well what he was doing with the way he was looking at him, but he was about to play dumb. Louis shook his head at him. “Come on, Your Highness, I don’t have all day. Give me a tour.” He said, and Harry pulled him along, Louis’ tail lifting and dipping as he did because, well, Louis should probably actually get the hang of it fast.

If it was possible—and it seemed it was—more fish appeared around them and the water became even bluer. They were colorful fish, too, swimming and—

“They’re talking.” Louis said when they got to a colorful, lively coral reef. He was right at Harry’s side now, still holding his hand, but he was moving on his own entirely rather than Harry helping by tugging him along. He tried not to think about how this definitely seemed to be like an equivalent to walking along the streets and holding hands, but they were so perfectly parallel to each other, shoulders barely touching because Louis wanted to keep close to Harry—not that Harry seemed to mind, of course—and they whispered to each other back and forth with quiet echoes and hums vibrating against their throats. 

Harry whispered back, “Of course they’re talking.” He paused. Louis could hear their idle chatter and it was positively surreal to him. He chanced a wave of his hand as a sea turtle slowly flapped his left arm at him before passing under them both. He was sure he heard the turtle say something along the lines of, “New friend, Your _Highness_? Play nice.” Harry chuckled to himself and Louis looked at him with a questioning smile. “Frank’s harmless. He’s like… he always makes sure I’m not getting into trouble if I sneak out. Sometimes Oscar—a flounder—completely ruins it. They go at it like a couple of cranky old men.”

Louis laughed. “I believe it.” He stopped—and it was a miracle that he knew how to—as he stared at a couple of clown fish in their little anemone home. “Wait, wait?” Louis asked quietly, feeling like a kid in an amusement park who just had to see _everything_. Harry turned to see him and nodded encouragingly. Carefully, Louis slid his hand out from Harry’s and swam a little closer to the pink sea plant that swayed left and right. He could _actually_ enjoy this. He could stay and admire everything around him for as long as he wanted to. Louis was still trying to wrap his head around that for the most part, but for now he was just going to enjoy it as it came. 

The clown fish were brushing against the anemone. Didn’t it sting? One of their heads poked out and looked up at Louis before saying “Hi!”. 

“H-hi, hi.” Louis said, laughing a little. He was talking to a fish. He smiled down at the fish and could swear the fish smiled back. _The fish smiled back_. This was a huge privilege to experience, too. Louis was hit with that immediately when the fish came out of the anemone and swam up in front of Louis’ face. “How are you?” Louis asked.

“Good. How are you? I’ve never seen you before. And you're with the king!” 

Louis felt Harry’s chin resting on his shoulder suddenly. “Hi,” he said to Harry. Harry only turned his had to look at Louis and flash him a smile. Louis gave him a fond scrunch of his nose before redirecting his attention to the clown fish. “He’s actually a very good friend of mine, your king, yeah, he’s absolutely incredible. He’s just showing me around."

“You’re not from here?” The fish asked. Louis bit his lip and his eyebrows creased together, not exactly sure as to how he was supposed to answer that question. He glanced over at Harry and received a nod from him. “Oh! Where from— _wait_.” The fish said, suddenly swimming around Louis’ head before hovering in front of them both again. “I know _you_!” He moved animatedly in front of Louis in excitement. Louis couldn’t help smiling. “You saved everyone!”

“No, no, no. Harry did that.” Louis said, shaking his head. God, he almost _died_ doing any of what he did, after all. All he did was… jump around and hand Harry his scepter back. Harry obviously did the rest, right? 

“Oh, you’re so modest, Louis.” Harry hummed pompously, sounding oh so proper that Louis’ eyebrows raised and he looked over at Harry expectantly. “If you hadn’t come along to help, who knows what would’ve happened. I was pretty much sitting on my tail, bowing down. _Me_. Of course you saved just about everyone. You’re quite renowned around the Atlantic. Word gets out fast.” Louis gave Harry a look specifically for him, one that just shouted a billion questions as his sharp cheeks blushed from the praise he definitely felt he didn’t deserve.

“Hang _on,_ ” Another clown fish said, coming out from the anemone behind the first. “‘A _human_ saved us—a first when it comes to the kingdom itself, of course—you’re _obviously_ a merman.”

Louis smiled with his eyes crinkling at the sides. “Yeah, I am.“

“Truth be told, Louis, here is the first human to turn into a merman. That accomplishment would be one for the history archives, don’t you think, Lou?” Harry said. Louis only nodded slowly, a confused smile making its way up onto his face. The pair of fish gasped with such shock. Harry raised a finger to his lips. “Trying to keep it all hush hush for right now, of course.” The two fish looked up at him like he was charming them. “You could understand that, couldn’t you? We don’t want too many people to be bombarded with this information quite yet. At the moment, we're trying to figure a way to nicely let the ocean know. You all deserve that.” 

“Of course, Your Highness.” One of them said.

“We’ll keep quiet.” said the other.

Harry grinned. “Oh, I do appreciate it, you two.”

One of the clown fish sighed. “We’d love to stay and chat, Your Highness, but we’ve got a big day ahead of us. My sibling and their mate have just had their clutch of eggs hatch.”

Both Harry and Louis laughed politely. Harry nodded against Louis' shoulder and he reached for Louis’ hand to hold at his side. “Of course. The last thing we want to do is keep you from your own lives. Promise to congratulate your sibling for me?”

“I’ll be sure to deliver the message!” And with that, they swam off elsewhere.

Louis was so amused for some reason. He certainly had never seen Harry in his element, sure, but there was a certain superiority about him that wasn’t tarnished. He spoke carefully and practiced, but it was so smooth. Louis was reminded that _yes_ , Harry was actually very much royalty. With how Harry had always been around him, he supposed it was a bit of a different side. He did remember that Harry preferred to be as much of himself as possible around Louis. Now, it seemed to make some sense.

“So posh.” Louis whispered, moving out from under Harry’s chin so he face him better. Harry chuckled. “I forget you're  _royal_ sometimes. Like I know you are, obviously, but like… I forget that you must have all these rules with how to act all around the…” He waved a finger around the busy coral reef. “the _public_.”

“Just being polite and considerate is all, Louis. I assure you I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Harry told him, crossing his arms over his chest. With how they were now, facing each other, it was like standing, except obviously not. Louis liked hovering in front of him like this. It was fun. He slightly rose up a few inches so he could be perfectly eye level with Harry. It didn’t seem to go unnoticed, either, because Harry’s very poised and calm composure completely shattered with him laughing.

“Loving how tall I’m feeling now! Up for it.” Louis exclaimed happily, his tail swishing underneath him expressively. A couple of colorful ray finned fish swam behind Harry and Louis waved his fingers at them happily. “They’re friendly. Honestly we… I feel like everything everyone learns about sea creatures up in the human world,” Louis said quietly, reaching for Harry’s hand again and pulling him closer. Harry didn’t seem to mind. “is an absolute lie.” 

“It probably is.” Harry agreed with a serious nod. “For one, we talk.”

“Hmm. I’m well aware of that.” 

“And we are busy. Not just to eat and survive, either, although that is a part of the daily routine for most.” Louis laughed at that. “And we’re smart. And…” Harry lightly tapped his thumb against the back of Louis’ index finger, eyeing him with a deep gaze. “we all have a tiny bit of magic inside of us all. Of course I’m talking about fish and the like. Their stuff goes nothing as far as what I can do, of course. Unfortunately most species are below us in that sense. Octopi can recolor our hair and tails with some sort of chromatophore power.”

Louis shouldn’t find this so hot. He literally said ‘chromatophore’ for fuck’s sake, and without even opening his mouth because _they don’t speak with their mouths_. It was surreal to remember that. It just wasn’t fair that Harry was looking at him so intensely and Louis felt way too trapped to look anywhere else. The only exception was when Louis glanced him up and down and his eyes settled on his chest a moment longer before returning right to Harry’s jade eyes. Or, well, maybe it was because Harry knew everything here so well and must like seeing Louis be so curious and excited. Maybe Harry likes showing Louis his world and it’s radiating off him with confidence and being happy in the knowledge—not that Harry’s never been confident or anything, but it was more so now. Louis didn’t know, but he sure did like it. “Sounds pretty awesome.” Louis said, the timbers of his echoey hum shaking lightly.

“I can’t wait to show everything to you. Smile.” Harry smiled exaggeratedly. Louis did the same. In no time, a swarm of tiny, thin cleaner fish came over to attack their teeth—and the scales of their tails, too, it seemed. Louis wanted to laugh because it tickled, but the fish were moving fast and Harry pulled away further. When Louis was sure he could, he closed his mouth and chuckled against his throat. 

“Did I just get my teeth and tail cleaned?” Louis asked, realizing a few merfolk swimming casually around them, too. “Oh wait, I got them cleaned like this when we went dolphin riding, too!”

“You did. Like I said, they clean our teeth and our tails if we’ve missed a few spots here and there. None of that toothbrushing stuff with the tiny hairbrush.”

Goodness.

Louis was so endeared it was aching at this point. Fondness exploded from his eyes as they laughed and swam ahead. A flounder by the name of Oscar blocked their path and circled around them before laughing and saying he was just kidding. He then asked about Frank the Sea Turtle and Harry was so unbelievably charming when saying, “I’m afraid you’ve just missed him. I bet you he’s not gone too far now and you can try and catch him!” with the most friendly, warm smile ever. Has Harry always been this charismatic?

“Haz,” Louis said as they swam through every bit of undersea environment ever—at least, around where they were, of course. Harry looked over at him with a small hum, giving Louis a squeeze with a hand. “You have to tell me the rest of… what happened. How this happened. I still can’t believe I’m actually a merman—hi!”he waved at a school of fish that swam by them and gasped at a shark who swam lazily about with such a calmness that Louis wished he could have himself.

Harry laughed, nodding off in some other direction as they continued forward. “Of course, you’re correct. I did say I would tell you. Remember how I… I mean, I guess I saved you?” Louis nodded. “If I hadn’t used my scepter on you right before you fell, you wouldn’t have survived. The transformation started to occur the moment it happened. It _was_ scary, though. I won’t lie.” Louis frowned. “I say that because you weren’t… really _alive_ so to say for a while. Does that make sense?”

Louis grimaced lightly. “Not really, but still… sounds horrifying.”

“It’s actually lucky that I, like, asked about what happened because even after you woke up on the shore, I didn’t understand how that could’ve been. We honestly thought you were dead and technically, you should’ve been. So after that happened and you fell asleep again, I told Zayn and Eleanor to take you home and I went back to the kingdom. Made sure everything was for the most part _okay_ before I went to Atlantis to see the Nautical Mage—and because we're living there temporarily.”

“You went to see the Nautical Mage again?”

“Yes. Of all the people best to ask, I figured the Nautical Mage would have the answers. She knows about you. In fact… she knows just about everything, really.” Louis looked at Harry worriedly. Harry immediately shook his head reassuringly. “Not in a terrible way, no. I think she always knew that you would be a good person. And you _are_ a good person. After all…” he shook his head sadly, stopping a little to look at Louis. “Louis I am never going to get over just how in awe I am over the fact that you went out of your way to do what you did for us. Do you actually understand how dangerous it was? What you did?”

Louis did know. He knew what he had done was technically so very stupid, too. It was just not that _simple_. “Yeah, obviously. I definitely knew it but… you were all in trouble. I couldn’t stand there and watch it all go down.”

Harry bit his bottom lip and shook his head fondly at Louis. Louis could practically see the _What am I gonna do with Lou_? question forming in his head even if he didn’t voice it. “Can’t lose you. Losing you… even as a friend was… it was maybe one of the worst things I’ve ever gone through even if I… I did it to myself. Losing you… _for real_ losing you? Like that? I could never live with myself because I would’ve known it was you sacrificing yourself. And anyway, a world without you—any world. Your world, my world… it would completely darken without you.”

“Harry,” Louis sighed, but it was a sweet sigh, a slightly dreamy one as his eyes sparkled looking at him. He was sure he had never looked at someone the way he looked at Harry. He was sure no one made him feel the things he felt like Harry did, either. “it was no biggie.”

“So you almost died,” Harry continued. They both laughed and continued on their way. “again. Which… please stop… _doing_ that. You’re going to give me a heart attack.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Don’t want you dying, either.”

“Fair. I asked the Nautical Mage when I had time… like, you know, I asked her how any of it happened. She said because you did crash into the water from that height that the transformation only took a while longer than it should’ve. You were too hurt. The first sign that not all was lost was that you wouldn’t stop… sort of… jumping. Like a drowning fish. It only happened in the water, though. The second sign was that I could feel the bones in your back start to mend themselves. You were healing.”

“I was?” Louis asked, unable to comprehend that he… he could do that sort of thing now. “Hopefully nothing bad happens to me again that calls for that sort of healing.”

“Hopefully not. But it was a slow thing. If you weren’t unharmed, it probably would’ve been an instantaneous thing. That’s what the Nautical Mage told me, at least. At the end of the day, all that matters is that you’re… here. You’re alive and you’re okay.” Was it okay that they were like this? It had to be, right? Harry said he didn’t want to see Louis hurt ever again, and honestly, Louis trusted that Harry wouldn’t do so again, either. He really, truly believed he wouldn’t. Harry turned his face to look straight ahead and pointed. “See there?”

Louis’ eyes followed the direction of Harry’s finger. There was a large, stone archway guarded by merfolk.

“Atlantis.”

“What?!” Louis raised an eyebrow. “You’re barking. We couldn’t have swam so fast.”

“Merfolk swim very fast actually. You just don’t realize it, but we do.” Harry said. “I think this will undoubtedly impress you the most.”

They passed through the archway, receiving polite bows of the guards’ heads. Louis didn’t know what to feel about that. He didn’t know why he was simply so in shock whenever he was reminded Harry was _royalty_. He was a king. Holy _shit_ Harry was a fucking king! Louis was literally holding hands with a king. And kissed a king today. He smiled at the thought and looked around so he could maybe keep his fond smile at bay again. That’s what he thought, at least, and it seemed to work… because Atlantis was _actually_ an undersea city.

It was _real._ He was _in_ Atlantis.

Atlantis was so lively, too. There were so many merfolk swimming about, laughing and chatting happily. There were… there were so many. There were _so many_. In reality, it was definitely one thing to hear about it and accept it was true even without seeing it all—knowing Harry’s existence and hearing his stories was enough—but actually _seeing it_ and _experiencing it_ firsthand was completely indescribable. Louis stopped swimming and Harry stopped where he was when he realized Louis had stopped moving.

“There’s… like—am I blending in okay? Do I pass—“

“Louis!” Harry laughed, swimming in front of him and cupping his face. Louis sucked in water through his mouth from gasping and clamped his mouth shut. Harry brushed his thumb along Louis’ cheek. “It’s okay. You—you certainly look the part. Right?” Louis nodded gently. “You can swim now—like a merman, no less. You do really well.” Louis looked down bashfully. It was just Harry’s eyes. They were so much and he would get _way_ too lost in them. “Even if sometimes you don’t swim too straight—“

“Coming from someone who walks pigeon toed,” Louis whispered, looking up to smile like the sun. “And unlike you, this is my first day.”

“What? I thought I was doing better!” Harry said, looking slightly offended. Louis scrunched his nose at him and shook his head. With another soft laugh, they pulled away and Louis only swam closer. “I should tell you,” Harry began. “I’m… maybe… taking you to see my mum.”

Louis’ face fell. “What?”

“She wants to meet you. Actually, my family and Niall and Liam—they all kind of waited to see if you would wake up when you were up on shore. So... yeah. And!” Harry exclaimed when Louis gave him a murderous look. It was just that… well, he wasn't exactly practiced in dealing with royal family members. Harry was one exception because Harry was always himself around Louis. His wariness might also have something to do with the fact that he definitely didn’t prepare to meet Harry’s family… _ever_. “If all goes terrible—which I’m sure it won’t—I’ll buy you…” he paused, looking around the lively undersea city. “anything you want from here.”

Well, when Harry put it like _that_ … It reminded him of how Louis bought Harry a bunch of clothes when they went to the mall. Louis couldn’t exactly say _no_ to being spoiled, could he? Harry was so sweet, too. He didn’t look as nervous as Louis felt, either, so maybe it would be okay. _It’ll be okay, it’ll be okay, it’ll be okay_. “If you think bribing me is going to get me to cooperate then—fine, I want this. Look at this!” Louis said, giving Harry a smile before he swam off to a mermaid’s stand with jewelry. Seashells small and large were chained into necklaces and bracelets. So were pearls and fish scales, and Louis genuinely thought they were lovely. 

“See anything you like?” The mermaid asked happily. Louis’ caudal fin swished back and forth with excitement as he hummed in thought and pressed a fist to his mouth, surveying the items for sale. Harry swam up behind him and rested his chin on Louis’ shoulder again. The mermaid gasped and bowed her head. “Your Highness, good afternoon!”

Louis smiled at that. “Good afternoon to you, too.” Harry said politely. Louis turned his head to look at Harry, then arched his neck forward and down to look at the single pearl necklace Harry had around his neck. He looked down at the table again to see a small bivalve shell as a pendant to a necklace. The chain had tinier shells linked together. 

“This one.” Louis said as he picked it up. 

Harry turned his head and hummed a whisper into Louis’ ear. “I literally don’t have money on me right now.” Who knew Harry whispering sounds in his merfolk language could shoot excitable sparks up his spine? Louis smiled to himself and immediately set the necklace down. Harry faced the mermaid again and gave her a pearly white smile. “Would it be okay if we were to come back later? I’m afraid I’m a bit empty handed at the moment.”

“Of course! I’ll even hold this for you, how’s that, love?” The mermaid asked, giving Louis a very motherly smile. Louis practically beamed at her when she gingerly took the necklace and wrapped it up in seaweed. “For when you come back.”

“Thank you, that’s so kind of you.” Louis said, nodding. “I mean, if that’s all right…” he began, his voice trailing off as he looked at Harry.

Harry’s eyebrows knit together at Louis. “Of course it’s all right with me.”

“Okay.” Louis faced the mermaid again and nodded happily. “We’ll be back then!” Harry hovered behind Louis and held his shoulders, gently guiding him away.

“Have a wonderful time in Atlantis!” The mermaid called after them. 

“This looks as lively as all the big cities in my world.” Louis said as they swam through the city, greetedby joyous ocean music—Louis tugged Harry over and they both swayed their hips left and right to the beat of a rocky drum played by a lobster, which took a bit of reassurance from Louis that Harry actually  _could_ in the water. He even promised Harry could twirl and do a lot of the normal dances in the water that humans could—they just had to be adapted for the ocean. It was funny when _Louis_ had to teach Harry how to move in the water. “Damn it, Harry, just spin around. What happened to all the ab work and tail muscles you have to use?” Louis asked as he lifted his arm up to help Harry turn around under their raised arms. “I know you said you lot don’t dance but come on! You guys seriously haven’t tried this?”

“Not so much, no. It’s a lot of hip shaking and arm waving.” Harry confessed with a laugh. “Most of our creativity happens with physical creations rather than dancing, unfortunately—even if that is physical, but... you know what I mean!” Harry took Louis’ hands and they pulled and pushed back and forth when a fish played the tightened arms of an octopus like some string instrument. Harry suddenly pulled him away to a couple of coral tubes and taught Louis how too make sound come out of them with a series of taps with the palms of their hands and slaps of their tails. Soundly bubbles came out of them and Louis was sure he’d never been so excited to play an instrument before.

Harry taught Louis how to play kick the clam when they came abouta couple of merchildren playing in the middle of what Louis liked to think would be called a street. They were absolutely darling, too, and Louis was unbelievably bashful when Harry told them of the ‘Kingdom’s Savior, Louis Tomlinson’. Modesty flooded through him and Louis quickly changed the subject to ask about the game they were playing.

It sort of reminded him of footie, except there was no goal and they passed the clam between them all with a slap of their tails. The goal of it was to not let it fall to the ground. It was actually easier said than done. 

“So… how many people know about the human who apparently— _apparently_ —saved the kingdom? As you so clearly like to boast about?” Louis asked as they swam about through the city of Atlantis. 

“Just about everyone. Not everyone notices right away, obviously, since you’re a merman right now.” 

They took a couple of free samples of barnacles that someone had on a plate outside of a coral restaurant. “I’ve _literally_ never had a barnacle and I promise I’m going to hate it.” Louis said as Harry ate one before taking a bite. His eyes softened and he looked down at the arthropod. “Mmm…” he hummed before completely devouring it, surprised he actually ended up liking it so much.

“‘An acquired taste’ you said. _Please_.” Harry said with a laugh. “I told you they were good. Don’t eat them all.”

“ _Okay_.” Louis grumbled as he took another couple to eat.

Harry had to pull Louis away from the front of the restaurant after that. He almost ate all of the free samples and the mermaid who was holding the plate was getting more worried by the second.

Their destination seemed to be a series of undersea caves. They received courteous bows and passed a bunch of smaller caves where merfolk slept. “What is this, like a hotel?”

“Sort of. That’s the best way to put it, yes.”

They entered a rather spacious cave with large bivalve shells scatted throughout the room. Louis hovered, rigid, as he saw a mermaid with the same eyes as Harry talking to _another_ mermaid with... the same eyes as Harry. “I bought a tail dress earlier and I was wondering if I should wear that to the cuttlefish concert tonight or the chimey ones instead I got last month.” This one could be Harry’s sister, Louis thought. She was smiling and Louis didn't miss the similar left dimple that popped up at the side of her mouth.

“Well if you bought it today why won’t you wear it?” The other mermaid asked. Louis found himself smiling softly. This had to be Harry’s mother. There was no way she wasn’t. She had the same big smile as him.

“Because it doesn’t match my tail’s colors right now you know?” Harry's sister said with a sigh. “I'm not entirely sure if I also want to spend the MT's to get my tail recolored and even _then_ I could do so much with recoloring. But what if I don’t want the color after tonight? Then I’d have to get recolored _again_ back to what it was originally and—“

“Well, luckily you’ve got a really interesting tail, Gemma.” Harry voiced, making both his mother and sister quiet and look over at him. “It’s a very, very light pink like a betta’s light pink _and_ there’s some blue fading in and out, too. What color’s the tail skirt you got?”

“A soft chartreuse.” His sister said. Apparently this was really funny. Harry chuckled and nodded, looking up at the ceiling of the cave. “I _know_. It doesn’t go but it’s _new_. But…” her eyes slid over to Louis. Louis folded his hands behind him and straightened his back a little more. It seemed like the proper thing to do, after all. “Enough about _me_ …” She grinned brightly at Louis and swam over to face him. “This is the guy! You’re the guy! And I’m Gemma!”

“Nice to meet you, Gemma! But... er... I’m… the guy?” Louis asked, glancing over at Harry who had taken a seat against one of the large, open bivalve sea shell beds, his tail bent and arms hugging around it. He smiled amusedly with a twisted mouth and nodded at Louis. “I guess I’m the guy.” He said, looking back at Harry’s sister. He should probably bow or something, right? She was a princess after all, right? And Harry’s mum was a queen once, right? Jeez, he should at least _try_ to have manners. Louis bent his upper body forward a little in a small bow, and despite his buoyancy, he almost lost any poise he’d attained so far. “Whoa!” He cried through his mouth, before falling right on his tail, Harry’s sister’s hands gripped his forearms and pulled him up.

“I see you're still getting used to your tail, huh?” She asked, her understanding tone making Louis smile with his eyes. “You of all people don’t have to bow to me. After all, I’m trying to lessen my title of princess to something a bit more fitting. But, it’s quite a pleasure to meet you. The last time Harry was here some bit ago yesterday, I’d heard so much about you, Louis Tomlinson.” Gemma Styles held one of Louis’ hands over her own and draped her other hand over Louis’. “And honestly, I don’t even know where we’d be right now if you hadn’t… _stepped in_ , I guess.”

Oh, yeah. This was Harry’s sister for sure. Not that Louis had any _real_ doubts about the fact or anything—especially now—but that slight play on words was a little funny and sounded like something Harry would say. Just like how, apparently, Harry’s reign was going quite _swimmingly_ , as Harry had put it.

Louis wondered if making puns ran in the family, even if they were slight. They didn't go unnoticed. Harry even giggled at this particular one. Louis let his fond smile come out just from the sound.

“What matters is that you lot are all okay.” Louis told her, glancing behind Gemma to their mother. “Really. I mean, it’s honestly been such an absolutely pleasure to get to know Harry in what feels like such a short amount of time and yet, y’know, I just… I really—thinking back to it, I feel like what I did was both so ridiculously stupid but…” he shook his head with a slight scrunch of his nose. “Y’know how it is when you’re sort of in the moment like that. And really, the thought of anything happening to Harry…” he quickly glanced over at him. “and knowing, of course like… this is _his_ home, this is all of your home, your whole ocean… I’d be a pretty terrible person to ignore it all and leave you all to fend for yourself while that siren… did all of that.”

“Speaking of sirens,” Harry’s mother said, pointing at Harry. “Liam’s got a word with you about them. He’s your Hand now, after all.”

Harry’s eyes shifted over to Louis, then back to his mother, then to Louis, then back to his mother. “Okay.” Louis looked at him, not missing the traces of worry on his features. Harry looked back at him. “I’ll be right back? I’m sorry—“

“A king is busy, Harry.” Louis told him with a softness that had Harry smiling in relief. “It’s okay. I don’t… I don’t mind. Really.” And he didn’t. Any nerves Louis had about meeting Harry’s family without warning had more or less slipped away. He wasn’t sure, but Gemma seemed to have managed to calm him a little with her friendly smile and how she held his hand in both of her own. “Just come back.”

“As fast as I can.” Harry promised before he swam off elsewhere. Louis slightly turned to watch his gracious tail disappear as it kicked away. 

The nerves were back. He faced forward again and bit his lip anxiously, but Gemma gave him another kind smile. He opened his mouth to say something—and why he did was a mystery to him. Even if he knew very well that speaking was different here, it seemed Louis still had his urges to open his mouth and talk—but immediately clamped his mouth shut when Harry’s mother swam up to hover beside Gemma, eyeing him curiously before her eyes shifted from wary to welcoming. “Louis Tomlinson, was it?”

“Yes,” Louis said with a nod and a bow of his head. “Er—ma’am. Yes… ma’am. _Fuck._ Your Grace? I—oh my god.” He pulled his hand away and ran it through his hair. So much for being polite. He’d just swore in front of Harry’s mother. No big deal. Fine. Gemma giggled and Louis shook his head at himself, his eyes squeezing shut tight for a moment. “I’m sorry, I—I didn’t know I was going to meet you today, honestly. I would’ve been more courteous if I’d known. Anything. If I’d known anything.” Maybe he should stop talking all together. Yeah, that sounded to be a reasonable thing.

“Oh, sweetheart, please don’t be nervous! And you can call me Anne if you’d like.” Harry’s mother said, giving him an apologetic smile. “I don't doubt that at all. Harry does like to surprise people, though. It’s just like him to do so. Especially you. He told us so much about you.”

“I yelled at him for a little bit about him lying to you—or, well. He didn’t technically lie. Just didn’t tell the truth.” Gemma said. Louis smiled sadly. He was definitely trying to forget that had ever happened. “He really is sorry.”

Louis nodded, pressing his lips together as he looked down. “I know.”

“Gemma don’t make him upset!” Anne snapped. “This is a momentous occasion, after all. We have no room for negativity right now.” Anne practically bounced as she clapped her hands together happily. “The first _human_ to turn into a merman—I’m astonished, if I do say so myself. And, not to mention, you did help us and for that, we are eternally grateful. I’ve never trusted a human but you, dear, I do believe I’ve made an exception. Granted, what you did for us made me think I could trust you. Harry's reassurances just made it better.”

Louis laughed warmly, feeling a blush creep up to his cheeks. “Ah, thank you so much, that’s so kind of you.” It was too much praise for him in one day, but that only meant that he had done something good, right? “What exactly’s Harry been saying about me? All good things, I hope?”

“Oh, the most lovely things!” Gemma gushed.

“He showed us your letters.” Anne said. Louis’ eyebrows quirked and his eyes softened immediately. “The ones you two exchanged last summer. Yes, those were so sweet! Honestly, even reading them without hearing about you had us completely understanding why Harry would trust you so much, trust you so completely, become so fond of you. There’s no wonder, even. Then, of course he told us about how selfless you are and how intelligent and helpful and patient and above all, kind… to those who you give to and help to so much who can give back mostly nothing in return. You risked everything for him, you did. And even if it’s always him at the base of everything you do, we’re still thankful.”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve _never_ seen Harry’s eyes light up so much when talking about someone, actually. Acted as if we asked him about his favorite cephalopod to talk about. Almost lectured us, even.” Gemma added. Louis swallowed hard, staring at them with such large, blue eyes and feeling his heart swelling from this information, from what they felt, from what Harry _still_ felt. Harry still cared about him. Harry still cared about him. Harry still fucking cared… like _that_.

Harry took kisses from him today that he knew he could take.

“Wait! Wait." Gemma pulled Louis to sit down on the rocky floor. She laughed as Louis tried to position his tail to lay out comfortably before deciding on sitting right on it instead just like how people could sit on the balls of their feet with their legs bent. 

“I’ve got it, I’ve got it. Lovin’ this, actually. I’m getting the hang of it a bit.”

“You’re like a a five-year-old getting used to swimming on their own.” Gemma told him. “Oh, but _wait_!”

“She’s going to ask about the little boats.” Anne cut in.

“ _YES!_ ” Gemma exclaimed happily. “I always thought they were cutest things humans had on their little feet! Harry couldn’t quit talking about _yours_. He said yours were absolutely gorgeous. When he’s human, does he wear his own, too?” 

Louis threw his head back to laugh. “Not that I'm opposed to them being called ‘little boats’—love that Harry calls ‘em that—but they’re actually called ‘shoes’, for, ah, for your knowledge.” He looked up at the ceiling in thought. “Er… _yeah_ , y’know there’s—I’ve never…” He tilted his head as he looked back at her, glancing up at Anne, too. “I don’t know what a tail dress is or anything like that but it sort of sounds like you might have a variety of those. And… ah… that sort of goes for shoes, too. There are a bunch of types. Most are worn for specific occasions, made for specific feet, and they’ve all got tons of different styles and designs on a lot of them.”

“They sound so pretty.” Gemma sighed dreamily. 

“You know,” Anne said, leaning against one of the curved walls. “Harry told us you helped him see the purple sunrise when you met.”

Louis looked down at his tail, a soft glow coming out between the overlapping scales. It was small, not too much, but it was still there. He smiled to himself as he thought about that day when they met. It had been a perfect summer’s day and an even lovelier night, too. “Yeah. It… I felt bad. I used to fish—“ Anne and Gemma both gasped in horror, their hands flying to their mouths. “Sorry, I know, I know, I _know_. Never liked it, though, and I _definitely_ don’t do it now. I felt bad about it. So I asked if there was anything he could possibly want and Harry mentioned this purple sunrise. And I took him up to the cliff. It took a lot of thinking no doubt, but… it worked out. Had me bike and all, so that really helped. And we just sat on the cliff waiting for the sunrise to come up. And it did…”

“And?” Gemma asked.

Louis smiled softly, his mind drifting to somewhere else. “He looked so… so handsome with the sun rays out like that, with the colors of purples and reds and pinks and oranges behind him. He was glowing. He was _really_ glowing. But he got scared. And… that’s understandable, you know. But he just jumped back into the water _so_ fast. But that sunrise?” Louis couldn’t describe it, couldn’t properly formulate words when it came to how Harry genuinely looked. Harry had looked so positively happy seeing the sunrise like that, with that wide smile Louis adored so much and his eyes as bright as the rays from the sun.

“That sunrise is nothing compared to you.”

Louis turned around to see Harry leaning his shoulder against the spacious entrance of their cave room, a satchel similar to the one Harry had left Louis months ago slung around his other shoulder. Harry gave him a secret smile with a gleam in his eyes that said they knew things no one else would know about or understand. It was a look that said Harry wouldn’t have it any other way. Oh, and _those_ were the… _bubbles_ in his stomach again, because Harry looking at him like he was the sun always seemed to have that effect on him.

“Everything all right, dear?” Anne asked. Harry lifted his gaze up from Louis and nodded. “Good, good, I was just telling Louis… that he is a positively lovely young merman… human… _both_ I suppose. Just like how you’re both as well. But… yes, of course, my point is that it’s impossible not to like him.” Louis looked back to Harry’s mum and blinked up at her. She looked down at Louis with an approving nod. “And I think, if it’s okay with you, of course,” Louis’ eyebrows raised slightly. “that my son is more than allowed to be with you if both of you so desire.”

Suddenly, everything was not all for naught. That sunk into Louis slowly and fully with a cloud of relief that loosened any tenseness in him from the idea of Harry… being with him at all. Even if the concept—which had been more or less impossible despite somehow knowing Harry kissed him because he _could_ , which was a complicated thought all together—wasn’t at the forefront of his mind, it was there, just settled in his head until now. Until now. 

Unfortunately, he couldn’t think on it too much other than he felt lighter than he had in a while, because Harry’s chest slammed into his back and his arms wrapped around him in a warm embrace. The force almost sent leaning forward and then back, too. Louis didn’t even flinch or shout from it, though. He instead rested his hands over Harry’s larger ones on his tummy, like it was instinct to do so.

Gemma grinned and softly laughed. “Mum, let’s go see if I can recolor my tail.” She said before lifting up and swimming over them. Louis felt Harry burying his face into the back of his shoulder, saw his green tail come forward to wrap around Louis’ bent one that he sat on.

“Lovely idea!” Anne said. “I hope to see you soon, Louis.” She said, and Louis nodded with a small smile as the two mermaids disappeared from the sea cave room. He bit his lip and felt Harry’s lips press a lingering kiss onto his shoulder, full of affection. Harry’s lips were soft against him… and he just _knew_ , truly _knew_ that it was okay.

“Louis, we can be together.”

Louis leaned back against Harry and felt his arms tighten around him. He turned his head to see Harry’s bright eyes peeking up at him from his shoulder. “Like... like really?” He asked, his humming voice soft and high. Harry nodded against him and must’ve smiled. No, Louis could _feel_ that smile against his shoulder, but it lit his eyes up all the same. “We can date each other?” 

Harry’s eyebrows knit together before his eyes widened. He nodded happily and lifted his head up to rest his chin on Louis’ shoulder like before. “I’m sorry, I completely forgot dating was a thing. It’s more like a privilege for us. Especially me.” Louis nodded in understanding. “Erm—Lou,” he began, pulling his arms away and swimming to sit in front of him. Harry sat the same way Louis did, on his bent tail, sitting on his caudal fin. “Wait.”

“Okay.” Louis said with a nod. He could wait a little more. In a way, he’s sort of waited a good year. What’s a few more seconds?

To Louis, Harry looked like he was trying to find the words to say. As always, for everything Harry did, Louis was patient and gave him that encouraging smile he liked to give. “I just—I… so, like, I can’t… I can’t marry you right now, Louis.”

Louis burst out laughing. He couldn’t even tell if it was a hysterical laugh or not. Or maybe not because honestly, the idea of marrying _anyone,_ let alone Harry, was the most ludicrous thing in the world. Okay, _fine_ , he was, what? Twenty-five now?—when did _that_ happen?—but he wasn’t anywhere _near_ those serious thoughts. 

Ifhe was going to be honest, Louis didn’t know Harry enough _anyway_. It was one thing to know that they just _happened_ and trusted each other—yes, even if Harry hadn’t told him the truth about a certain _engagement_ that was no longer… relevant right now, but was still not forgiven—but it was another thing to be _that_ committed. Louis looked at Harry now and was sure that he wasn't  _in love_ with him. For the sake of argument, even if he was and it was reciprocated, marriage was still such a serious commitment that had to be entirely certain. They needed to actually… actually _date_ , firstly. 

“That’s why I said ‘date’, Haz. I wasn’t about to suggest marriage. Are you joking?!”

Harry sighed out in relief, bubbles flying out of his lips and gills. “Phew ‘cause I’m definitely not trying to marry someone too soon again. I mean I’d rather marry you than… _some_ people.” Louis laughed, his fist going to his mouth to try to stifle it. “But… obviously, yeah. Especially since…” Harry shrugged. “It’s a little obvious you care about your world as much as I care about mine. And I can’t… give mine up. I’m sure you can’t give up yours?”

Louis shook his head. “No… I—this is all lovely. Like, it’s great that I can say I’ve finally been in an undersea cave room that’s made up of a lot of… cave rooms. I don’t know?” Harry nodded reassuringly. “Yes? I’m right? Good. Well, yeah, I mean, that’s awesome. I’m not saying it’s not. And I’m not saying that I don’t love this.” he lightly patted his scaly lap. “because I do. I just… I mean, I’m busy, too.” Louis confessed with a sigh. “Especially now. Gotta go see me mum to make sure she knows I’m okay. Gotta go to work again. I’m supposed to be starting school. And… I have to go see Carl’s house.”

“And I’ve still got to help renovate things, still have other members of the council to decide on, have a few more proclamations to make, plan for the summer games—no _killing_ this time—and fix a couple of environments that are a bit damaged... there's a lot.”

“And you’ve got your stuff, too! Exactly. And… I mean, I have a lot to look forward in my own… mundane world which… even thinking about those sort of things? They’re really not all too mundane.”

“Your world’s not mundane, Lou.”

“And neither is yours. But this is… it’s very serious.” Harry nodded in agreement. “Like we really have to see if we can… can actually… like…” he shrugged, because even thinking about it was a lot. Marriage was so far away that it was a foolish thing for either of them to think about. Thankfully it seemed neither of them did. That still left the biggest obstacle for them both. They were from two different worlds and neither of them were about to give it up for the other.

Harry pressed his lips together, looking around in thought before shrugging. “How… are we going to do this?”

“I don’t know.” Louis admitted with a lopsided grin. “But I somehow managed to get you up on a cliff last summer to see the sunrise. If I can do that, if we can do that? Who’s to say we couldn’t figure… everything else out all in due time?”

“You’re right.” Harry beamed, reaching for Louis’ hand. Louis took it and Harry pulled him up off the floor of the sea cave. “All in due time.” Louis rested his other hand up on against the side of Harry’s neck and pulled him in for a searing kiss because he _could_. Harry responded tenderly, but firmly, his lips making Louis’ heart want to burst and scream. He pulled away only so he could give Louis a peck on the lips before quickly peppering kisses under his mouth, over his sharp jaw, under it, down his throat and pulled him in for a jolting hug, which drew small, giddy giggles from Louis.

“All in due time.” Louis repeated, smiling happily and closing his eyes as his head rested snug against Harry’s cheek and shoulder. Harry squeezed around Louis’ small frame affectionately and Louis dropped his forehead onto Harry’s shoulder, humming softly into his skin and feeling Harry’s deep laugh vibrating gently.

Oh, they were together.

“We’re together?” Louis asked.

Harry replied, “We’re together, if it pleases you.”

“It does.” Louis whispered softly. “A lot.”

“Can I spoil you now?”

Louis laughed against him and pulled back a little so he could see Harry’s face. His eyes darted across it before they met Harry’s. He kissed Harry slowly, feeling his heart fluttering with a happiness he hadn’t felt in about a year, and kissed the corner of Harry’s mouth, then his left dimple as Harry smiled uncontrollably. It was okay, too, because Louis felt that they for once _really_ had all the time in the world for those longer, deeper kisses. Louis was happy to be just like this, as simple as it was, and it was all because they couldn’t _really_ for the longest time. They had all the time in the world for the quick, excitable, spontaneous ones, too, and it was all because they were… they were together. “‘If it pleases you’, or whatever you just said.” 

“Come on, then, Lou.” Harry said, reaching behind him to take Louis’ hand in his to tug him away, out of the large cavy area and back into the heart of the lost city of Atlantis.

⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓ ⚓

Apparently, merfolk’s skin didn’t wrinkle after being in the water for too long. It did make sense, too, but still, when Louis realized he didn’t look at all shriveled up, Harry laughed at his excited reaction. Louis had lost track of time, anyway, and had mostly been paying some attention to the light in the sky that shined into the water. It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing to do, especially since Louis found himself to be distracted by just about _everything_ around him again.

Harry bought him the necklace with the shell. Louis put it around his neck and it felt right sitting there. He liked it a lot. They ran into Gemma and Anne where a couple of octopi ran a sea boulder where merfolk would lay down against it and the octopi tickled the merperson with their arms on the tail until a section of scales or the whole tail turned a different color that the merperson desired. Louis knew it shouldn't be possible, but Gemma’s tail no longer had any of the blue, but had a more watermelon pink all around except for the light green streak of scales running down the right side and someone was changing their tail from orange to gold. Anything was possible.

They hurried to grab a proper meal which consisted of ocean plants, smaller ocean fish, crustaceans, mollusks, or arthropods assorted onto a dish. Louis had made a point to call Harry out on him getting mad at humans for fishing for food when merfolk ate dead tiny critters anyway, but it seemed that merfolk waited until they were naturally dead before they ate sea critters.

They came across arm cuffs and skin jewelry because people in Atlantis were very… _loud_ with how they appeared when compared to other merfolk in _any_ ocean. There were places where they could dye their own skin, embed permanent bioluminescent designs onto their skins in incredible patterns—which apparently hurt a lot—and did their hairs in every different possible style.

In no time, Harry and Louis came across a small, coral building that was actually a pet 'store'. 

Louis spent a _lot_ of time in the pet ‘store’.

There were variants of sea monkeys, crabs, lobsters, dolphins, whales, manatees, small sharks, big sharks, sea turtles, rare fish that seemed exotic, stingrays types, eel types, and starfish—and there were tiny earring starfish where they would pay for the pet, too—and other types of sea creatures. The thing is that they were either in eggs or just a bunch of newborns. Louis had his heart set on a baby sea turtle who scurried around after him throughout the whole coral building of the pet ‘store’ until he figured if he rested on top of Louis’ head, everything would be easier. It was Harry who pointed out that Louis seemed to have made a friend and Louis carefully took the little reptile from the top of his head into his hands and completely melted when the turtle cooed at him.

“Can I…” Louis began quietly, humming happily when the turtle nuzzled his little head against Louis’ chest.

“I mean, are you sure you want another pet?“

“Yeah I can have a trillion pets. I don’t care. Besides, I think he needs me.” Harry laughed and Louis lifted the turtle up so he was eye level to him. “You definitely need me, look at you.”

So, Louis acquired a brand new pet. Harry suggested the turtle stay with him until Louis got anything he needed to actually _keep_ the turtle for a little while in the human world. Louis agreed to this happily and swam away with Harry to look at the tail dresses and skirts that merfolk simply _loved_ to wear. Louis actually got fitted for one and fell in love with many. Harry poked fun at how cute it was that Louis’ fin size was smaller than Harry’s. Louis hovered right beside Harry when he said that and ended up slapping his fin against Harry’s tail as retaliation, but it was very gentle. 

Louis was asked about his tattoos a lot from merfolk they came across. That ended up with him explaining it to them in the most simple way he could think of after they figured out who he was. “Well, I just turned into a merman today and humans can make art into other people’s skin through needles and ink.”

Harry made it a thing to point at Louis’ newest compass tattoo and tell people that “He got this one to remember me by.” and Louis tried to hide the soft, rosy tint that crept along his prominent cheeks as he smiled and nodded.

After around the seventh merperson to ask Louis, Harry suddenly pulled Louis to sit down in the middle of the city on the sandy ocean floor. The reality was that doing so seemed to be a normal thing. Merfolk sat left and right around the city’s ocean floor comfortably, chatting and enjoying themselves with such excitement. He and Harry were just amongst the many now. “Louis, I forgot to tell you something.” He said excitedly. Louis nodded for him to continue, but ended up having Harry turned around so his back faced Louis. Harry reached behind him to bunch his curls into his closed fist and raised them up so the nape of his neck was visible.

“What?!” Louis gasped. “When and where did you get this trident tattoo?!” He asked, curling his hand around the sides of his neck so he could massage the back of it with the pads of his thumbs. “It’s awesome.”

“I got it when I saw the Nautical Mage after we finished the quest. It's more done by magic, I guess. All kings get this when they finish the quest but it's usually as a pattern on their tail. I guess I'm a bit of a rare case.” Louis smiled down at the tattoo and let his eyes trail down Harry’s broad back. His upper back muscles were prominent with how Harry held his hair out of the way and Louis really wanted to kiss every inch of him. Of course, that was for another time and they were in public, so he settled with giving a small kiss to the tattoo and received a delighted giggle. Harry let go of his hair and Louis stared at how soft and fluid it looked as it slowly swayed wherever the strands wanted to go. “Hey, now.” Harry said, turning around to face Louis.

“Should I not have done that?” Louis asked, already looking at him apologetically.

Harry shrugged with one shoulder and a shy smile. “It doesn’t matter. I mean, soft and simple displays of affection are really common and all, but…” he looked around quickly before waving a dismissive hand in the water. “Doesn’t seem to matter, anyway. I’m king, you know, and… people know me. But it’s okay because I want everyone to know you, too. I mean, they do sort of, but… not the true  _you_.”

“You’re cheesy.” Louis whispered. Harry looked confused at the statement. “It’s the stuff on pizza, remember?” He watched Harry’s features slowly shift, his eyebrows raising and his dimple appearing when he smiled, knowing that Harry remembered it when he did. Harry could be pretty expressive when he didn’t say anything. “Yeah, remember? You remember.”

“I do, I do. We can have all the cheese pizzas we want now, can’t we?” Harry asked, taking Louis’ hands in his again. He seemed to really _love_ to do that, not that Louis minded. It was the gentler things that really sparked the truest bits of affection between them, in Louis' opinion. He laced their fingers together and Louis answered it with a gentle pull from his own fingers grazing the backs of Harry’s hands. “You need to think up of a name for your new pet.” Harry said as Louis pulled Harry’s hands behind his own neck. Harry rested his forearms over Louis’ shoulders and Louis let his hands slide down Harry’s arms to softly bush his fingers against them. 

“I do.” Louis agreed, looking up from him to see the little baby turtle swimming up to the surface for breath before coming back down to meet them both. The turtle settled right between their close faces and cooed gently again. Louis scrunched his nose playfully at the turtle and grabbed him gently to cradle him. “Could always name him Sheldon.”

“Sheldon?!” Harry laughed. “That’s a funny name. It’s cute for him.”

“Noah?”

Harry grinned. “I like Noah. By the way, I wouldn’t mind taking the little guy in sometimes. I mean, sea turtles are _sea turtles_ for a reason. Things’ll be easier if you end up moving to that house by the sea, though, right?” Louis nodded happily. “If you want, I mean, to leave him with me. I know I already offered to take him now so you can get what you need to house him in your place, but... he's a sea turtle at the end of the day.”

“Sometimes I’ll have to, no doubt. As long as it’s not a problem?”

Harry shook his head. “I wouldn’t have offered if it was.” He jerked his head up a little. “Come on. I should… I should probably get you home.” He gave Louis a sad smile. “Liam—my Hand now, right?—he, when I was called to go see him back when you met my mum and sister, he told me about my old, old, old childhood friend who now resides in the Pacific. He’s been thinking of coming back here and maybe he can be a part of my Small Council if I can get to him quick enough to ask. Trustworthy, too. A bit… _loud_ , maybe, but Nick is a good person all the same. Also told me that all the sirens have completely been exiled to Capri as of today. And I told him Zayn wanted to maybe see him sometimes if it was okay with him and he... he's actually pretty excited about that. It seems he and Zayn might have a tiny bit of a spark of their own.”

“Oh, that's great! But see, you really are busy. I don’t want to keep you from the stuff you’ve got to do.” Louis said, swimming up and heading through to the archway of the city. Harry followed quickly behind him and suddenly… Louis got a bit competitive. He looked over his shoulder to see Harry gaining in on him and Louis only sped forward as much as he could. He tried to remember to every bit of his body to move, and it definitely exhausted him to go faster, but anyone who knew Louis knew that he was a competitive person on any given day. He let Noah the little sea turtle swim beside him, too, the easier for him to use his arms.

“What are you doing?!” Harry asked from behind him. Louis smiled to himself as he shot forward, bubbles trailing from the ends of his tail. Louis let out a mischievous laugh as he hurried even more. “Oh, I was entirely unaware that we were racing Louis. You _do_ know you’re in _my_ world, right?” Harry asked, the lift of his tone turning to something more confident and playful, striking uncertainty in Louis’ chest. 

He should’ve known, he supposed. He should’ve known that when Harry picked up on the fact that Louis was racing him that he didn’t stand a chance. The end of his tail was grabbed and Louis couldn’t swim forward anymore, even if he tried to kick away. With everything he did, it was useless. He tried to move his tail alone, but that only ended up with his upper body swaying pointlessly in the water. He tried to use his arms to push up, but Harry had a strong, yet gentle grip on his tail, so that didn’t do anything, either. Louis let out a frustrated huff from his mouth and folded his arms bitterly. He looked down, having had tried to swim _up_ towards the surface instead, and Harry held Louis in place with a crooked smile that sent Louis’ heart racing. 

“Got you, Lou.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, noise, noise—“ Louis quieted as Harry moved upward, gripping up along the sides of Louis’ tail as he came up, up, up, then the sides of his torso, and then his arms, all as if Louis was a ladder, and then Harry was eye level to him again, all with a speed and smoothness that Louis couldn't help being impressed with and even attracted to. “Noise.” Louis said when Harry grinned at him brightly, looking far too pleased with himself. He wondered if merfolk relied on touches, too, like they relied on kisses. If it was at all possible, every tiny little touch from Harry’s fingertips and palms when he came up was like a pleasing, electric shock. “What was that?”

“I’ll tell you another day.” Harry said to him.

Louis hated Harry, thinking the thought with a smile despite having had lost. He was curious, though, because who wouldn’t be at his age when he just found out he was a merman not some hours ago? Louis unfolded one arm from his chest to twirl a finger around one of Harry’s floating curls. To think it had actually been some inches longer last year. Actually, did he and Harry have the same hair length right now? Louis smiled as he lightly tugged at the end of the curl and received a soft hum of a giggle from Harry in return.

“Lou?”

“Hmm?”

“I promise I’ll never hurt you like I did last year ever again.” Louis sighed, his smile fading a little. “I know it keeps being brought up and it’s not nice to remember. And… and I know like… that, like, just because she’s not around and we can be together now, it doesn’t make me not telling you that I _was_ engaged suddenly okay. Like, I really just want to make sure that you know that I know what I did was wrong.”

Louis nodded. “I know.” He said. “I know. But… you know, like I said… I understand. And, really, we actually… what we felt and our time on the boat was _so_ real. It’s actually sort of undeniable. And I promise you I know that you’re sorry. I appreciate your apology so much. I can see you mean it. And I believe that you won’t… do that to me again. I really do. That’s why I so easily sort of… let you kiss me, let you hug me and all that. Why I’m actually excited we can be together. It’s not without cautiousness, though. I just know you and know myself and… I know it’s okay. We’re okay now.” He leaned forward to kiss Harry’s forehead and Harry turned his head to kiss his cheek.

** (A/N: Tune; [_Sweet Disposition_ by The Temper Trap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-ENipUB8NI)) **

When he and Harry returned to the beach, they both rose up out from the water to pull themselves up onto the rocky pathway. Louis’ lungs filled with air through his nose and he sighed out happily. Harry immediately dried himself, was clothed and two-legged again. Louis on the other hand stared at Harry with a slight pout. Harry laughed warmly and touched Louis’ wrist. Drying was instantaneous, and so was the transformation back into a human. He was quiet for a moment while he stared down at himself. He was human at the end of the day, after all. He needed a little bit to get used to all of the magic.

“Thanks.” Louis said, using his voice and his mouth to speak once more. “Wow. Feels a bit weird.” So did breathing, except, so did filtering water and air through his gills when it first happened, and so did speaking differently underwater. “Does it always feel different when you change back?”

“It takes a bit of getting used to.” Harry told him, fondness lacing his eyes as Louis crossed his legs to sit comfortably and folded his arms again. “I’ll help… teach you those things. Teach you how to instantaneously dry yourself from water… and… some other water things.” Louis gave him an amused look. Harry shook his head. “No, I mean—wait,” he laughed. “like, there’s a lot of things the most normal of merfolk can do, Lou. And… yeah, that does mean you’ve got a bit of… of magic somewhere inside of you. Of course, that’s always been a bit evident to me.” Louis visibly melted, his eyebrows quirking as he let out a soft, pleased sigh. “All in due time.”

Louis pulled at the collar of his shirt to find the shell necklace. He pulled it out to rest it over his shirt and smiled at Harry, feeling a bit renewed with hope again. It was all real. Harry was real. That hidden world under the ocean was real. “Okay.” He whispered, just as Harry leaned in for an innocent peck. His eyes squished as he smiled at Harry. They _could_ do this now. Softly and roughly, deep or chaste. Louis was sure he never felt so lucky. “I had fun today. Definitely an ideal way to wake up from… from a day and a half nap.” It was definitely a nice thing to wake up to the surprise that was _Harry_ right in his room, with a glass of water and everything.

“Oh,” Harry chuckled, running his hand through his curly hair to shake it lightly. “I’m glad. Yeah, I am. I’m so happy about that, actually. I wasn’t sure how you were going to take the whole… the whole merman thing. And everything else. I mean, what if you hated it?”

“Hated being a merman?” Louis asked, raising his eyebrows in surprise. That concept sounded too unrealistic.

“Well, yeah. I mean, you never know… right?”

Louis laughed and carefully got to his feet. “Please, Harry. I literally… _genuinely_ dreamt about this happening to me. Not exactly how it did, of course, and not under the circumstances it happened in, but…” he nodded a little, remembering the little dream he had on the yacht almost a year ago. “Yeah. I remember dreaming… you know, me and my tail,” Harry stood up and slightly bent his right foot back so the tip met the rocky pathway instead of the flat of his foot. Louis peered down at him and only just noticed how very lean he was. He stood with his legs apart and clapped his hands together once. “and… I was just swimming. I think I dreamt it after we rode Jackie and Evan. That was so much fun.” He gasped and jumped up once with glee. “Can we do that again? But like… _longer_ now?”

Harry laughed and nodded, a happy twinkle in his eyes. “Of course, Louis. I would love to do that with you again. I think it’ll be… a much _truer_ experience for you, too, now that you can stay underwater for as long as you want. Noah’s still on top of your head, darling, careful.” Louis’ heart skipped a beat at the term of endearment Harry used for him, but he reached up to his head and took the little turtle, who had slipped away into his small shell. “Here, I've got him." Harry said as Louis handed him the little critter. Harry carefully held him in his hands. "I'll take care of him until you come and get him."

“I know, babe.” Louis said gently. “So, dolphin riding again. When’ll we do that?”

Harry frowned. “Whenever? I’m not sure.”

Louis snorted. “Okay, Harry. I know you may not… _understand_ exactly how dating is seeing as you’re royal and… like, you were recently engaged and married and all, but… and I mean, I don’t think I’ve dated someone properly in _years_ , but I do remember how it goes.” Harry let out a sudden laugh and covered his face. Louis’ fond exploded on his face as he licked his smiling lips and looked away for a moment. “So, usually, we would make plans with set times of the day on a specific day usually… _maybe_ within the next few days or within the next week.”

“Lou! I know, I—hey. Give me some time to get used to stuff.” Harry said rather cutely with an exaggerated pout of his own lips. “We really _do_ need to get used to things.”

It really wasn’t just a statement. It also needed to be reiterated. Louis just now realized the weight of their relationship. It wasn’t going to be something _easy_. They were from two separate worlds that, as Harry had put it once upon a time, shared the same sky. Maybe they could share the same destiny, too, but it would take a long time to get there. They had to coexist and alter their lives for one another. Was Louis prepared to slowly delve into that change in his life?

_ Yes. _

“We need to get used to both of our lives, yeah. Find out if we can… if we can work like that, if we can live… in the ocean and on land and make everything just work out. And of course… it’s important that we make sure _we_ work out with each other. But, honestly… honestly I… I don’t know, I have a lot of faith in you? In me? In us? I mean, I think we’ve gone through quite a bit that I can be a little sure of my faith with us.” Louis looked up at Harry now and could see the face of someone he really cared about, someone he really trusted, someone he really wanted to be with more than anything. Right now, his gut was telling him that everything was going to be okay in the long run, even if they ran into some bumps along the way. “Is that stupid?”

“No. And I’ll never give you a reason to regret doing so, either.” Harry promised before lowering his head to press his lips to Louis’ with a sweetness that nearly had Louis bursting into tears. Louis returned the kiss with an enthusiasm of his own, an ease of mind filling him entirely as their lips whispered together with little reassurances. He smiled against Harry’s mouth, never ceasing to be amazed with how soft and sweet—but surprisingly, tastefully salty—they were, thinking that there may not be a second he didn’t feel like melted chocolate around him.

Their kiss was interrupted by a familiar shot of water spraying Harry’s back, which had Louis leaping backwards to avoid any of it. Harry sighed and shook his head distraughtly as Louis looked behind him to see the two familiar dolphins poking their heads out of the water. They chirped happily, as if they were laughing, and Louis shook his head at them before looking at Harry, who shrugged as if to say, _Oh well_ , right before he fell backwards into the water.

Louis stepped up to see Harry’s tail come to life as a trade for clothes. Harry’s head rose up out of the water and he rested his hands on the rocks at Louis’ feet, Noah the turtle on his shoulder and his head poking out. “I guess that’s them telling me to get back to all my duties.” He hummed a soft laugh and rolled his eyes with amusement.

“Guess so.” Louis said, his voice just above a whisper.

“We still need to figure out a date for dolphin riding.” Harry reminded him, biting his lip and looking like he was about to explode from excitement.

Louis pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “Well, I’ve got to get back to my flat. Call my work and see what they’ve got for me, y’know? And… and I’ll see what my schedule is. See what… I’m doing and stuff and see when I’m free. I’ll even bring my phone with my calendar on it, too, and…” Louis paused, thinking for a moment before he nodded and tilted his head at Harry. “I mean, I should be free tomorrow morning? I’ll have definitely gotten some sort of basic idea as to what I’m doing by then.”

Harry nodded, brushing the tip of his fingernail gently against Louis’ shoes. Louis smiled down at them. He loved the tiny reminders that Harry loved shoes. Shoes were what brought them together, after all. “I think that can be arranged.” Harry said quietly, his eyes lighting up as if he’d just gotten the best idea ever. “When the sun rises? Right here?”

There was such an amount of cheesiness to that. With anyone else, Louis would scoff and think they were absolutely mad for suggesting to meet up at sunrise. With Harry, though, Louis thought it was a _perfect_ time of the day for them. The sunrise was everything with them both, had far too much meaning. Even if his body would most likely want to snooze all the way into the afternoon, he knew he would get up early for Harry. The King of the Atlantic Ocean was busy, after all, and if they were a couple now, Louis could make a few sacrifices for him happily.

He licked his top lip before he bit his bottom one and started walking off. He looked over his shoulder to Harry, giving him a practiced wink and a smirk.

“Right here. When the sun rises.”

Harry ducked his head halfway into the water, but he raised an eyebrow, his eyes alight with mischief before he disappeared underwater, his iridescent tail fin bobbing out of it for a second before it dipped right back in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for this fic!
> 
> The fourth one—aka the one after this one—in mind is actually going to have the most chapters and might actually be the longest. For that, I'm going to put out there that if any of you would like be a beta for me for the continuation of this series, you should definitely let me know and message me on [tumblr](http://halostylenson.co.vu) if any of you just so happen to be interested in helping me out. 
> 
> Not to worry, if I'll still start writing the fourth one regardless if I have one and it'll be up regardless if I have one, but it'd just be nice if I did!
> 
> Thanks so much to everyone who's stuck with this series so far and will continue to do so. I assure you, literally, that there is no angst from here on out—at least, not the measure that the angst was in the past three fics! For the most part, and I mean about 98% of the rest, is going to be smooth sailing and definitely eventful and a strong development in their relationship.
> 
> As always, as always, I appreciate comments and kudos if you can give them to me. <3 Thanks!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for looking. I love, love, love comments and kudos because hearing what you guys think is without a doubt one of my favorite things! Like last time, I'll update as I write and hopefully I'll be able to get the next chapter out reasonably soon—which, in my opinion, will be the start of another intense part in this whole story.


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